


Strike Back: Retribution

by ApolloXL5



Category: Strike Back
Genre: F/M, Section 20, Strike Back - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-14
Updated: 2018-08-05
Packaged: 2018-08-08 17:23:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 45,339
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7766680
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ApolloXL5/pseuds/ApolloXL5
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sgt. John Porter is on the run in Iran, trying to evade both the Taliban and the Delta-Force squad who are hunting him. Meanwhile Section 20 comes under the leadership of Col. Elanor Grant, who sends new Operative, Sgt. Michael Stonebridge on a mission to extract Porter and bring him back home.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: Here is my take on what happens between seasons 1 (Origins) and 2 (Project Dawn) of Strike Back, which I will try to update after every Batman chapter.
> 
> On a side note, when characters speak in a language other than English, I will be making the dialogue 'Italic' to show that it has been translated.

  **STRIKE BACK: RETRIBUTION**

  

**\- CHAPTER ONE -**

 

_'The Afghanistan/Iran Border'_

As the golden-brown desert was baked by the midday Sun that shown down mercilessly upon it, a lone Sheppard was leading his flock back home down a lonely and dusty road. This was a journey he made with his livestock everyday, never seeing another soul as he escorted his livelihood to the grasslands several miles away. And it appeared that today would be no different, since there yet again was no one else sharing this road with him ans his flock.

But suddenly an explosion erupted in the not so far off distance, making the Sheppard jump slightly as he instantly turned his attention to the billowing smoke that rose up into the cloudless blue sky. The Sheep surrounding him began to panic as they were started by the loud noise, which like a large pebble being dropped in a still pond, sent ripples throughout the area.

_"Calm down!"_ he shouted at the animals, only for them to scatter and leave him standing there on the road.

" _Damn it..._ " the Man then remarked with a disappointed tone, before the sound of vehicles and gunfire could be heard in the distance, getting louder as they got closer. So the Sheppard quickly got off the road and took cover behind a a large rock, just in time for a three desert-camouflaged Jeeps to speed past. All three completely ignoring him as soldiers in the last two fired on the car in front, making the Civilian's heart race as he held his hands to ears and fearfully waited for them to leave area.

After the speeding firefight was nothing more than a distant echo of machine-gun fire in th distance, the Sheppard got up from behind his cover and looked around him to see there was no sign of his flock, gaining an angred expression as he looked back in the direction the Jeeps had been heading.

_"Fucking Foreigners!"_

Meanwhile, John Porter was driving the lead-Jeep as the two closing from behind continued to fire on him, with bullets shooting past both sides of his head as he focused on keeping uis vehicle on the road. But then two bullets impacted on the dashboard, makig him greet his teeth as he picked up the hand-gun lying on the passenger seat beside him.

"Damn Americans!" he spat before firing several rounds back at his pursuers, which did nothing to disuade them as they continued to press their attack.

' _Okay, let's see how you like this!_ ' he thought before dropping the gun back in it's place and picking up a hand-grenade that was lying next to it, quicking pulling it's pin out and holding it for a second, only to then throw the explosive back onto the road behind him, where it exploded under the nearest of the pursuing Jeeps. The force of the blast destroyed the vehicle, killing all on board as it was ripped apart. This made the other Jeep slam it's brakes on, coming to a halt behind the fire and smoke that was rising out of what was left of the first, while it's occupants continued to fire on Porter as he began to make some distance between them.

' _That won't hold them back for long..._ ' he started to think while returning his focus to the road ahead of him, as a concerned expression appeared on his face.

' _...how did things get so fucked up so fast?_ ' John mused as he remembered the events that transpired up until this moment.

_'It all started when Section-20, a top secret branch of MI6, sent him to extract a Computer Hacker called Gerald Baxter from the Helmand Province, Afghanistan. But of course, things never go according to plan or are ever that simple, because both he and Baxter ended up in the cross-hairs of both the Taliban and the Americans, since both parties wanted the latter dead._

_And that was the fate that awaited the Brit as he took a bullet to the head from a lone Taliban fighter, leaving Porter on his own. But then things became even more complicated when the Operative found out that his friend/Superior Officer, Hugh Collinson, was the man responsible for the deaths of a number of John's squad-mates back on that fateful mission on the Eve of the Iraq Invasion, back in 2003._

_Collinson even came to Afghanistan to kill Porter, posing as his would be rescuer. But after a brief fight, the former told the truth and aided in the latter's escape as more Taliban forces attacked, before dying while taking out a number of their enemies with a hand-grenade._

_And now John found himself driving Collinson's Jeep down a deserted road toward Iran, trying to make some distance between himself and Sharq's Men, the ones responsible for Hugh and Gerry's deaths._

_'Wait a second!' he thought before braking hard, bring the vehicle to a complete halt as the manoeuvre kicked up some dust from the ground, making the Soldier look back over his seat in the direction he had come from._

_'What was it that Gerry had said?' John thought as he remembered back._

_"Sharq just did a deal with the Americans, they are going to exchange you and me for arms and intelligence."_

_'He had a flash-drive on him too...I need that Intel...' the Man added, before then turning the Jeep around and heading back into Pakistan._

_'...or I am dead.'_

_An hour later and Porter parked up near the area where he and Baxter were attacked, looking out at his surroundings to make sure he was alone._

_'Looks quiet, but that doesn't mean that I am alone.' he thought, before his eyes fell upon the still body of Gerald Baxter that was still lying in the same spot that he died in,_

_This made John pause as the Man's death replayed again in his mind, before he shook his head and regained focus._

_'Don't have time for that.' he added with a annoyed expression, before then getting out of the Jeep with his handgun and checking it was fully loaded._

_'Right, let's do this.'_

_The Soldier then walked over to the corpse with his weapon ready, staying alert for any threat that might appear while he was out in the open like this._

_"Oh, Gerry..." he then started to say in a soft tone after arriving at the body, which still had the photo of his family placed between his chest and right hand,._

_"...I am sorry, mate." Porter added as he knelt down beside him, before quickly taking one more look around him cautiously. Once the Section-20 Agent was sure that he was still alone, he took one hand off the AK and searched through Baxter's jacket and shirt pockets for the device._

_'There you are.' he smiled while pulling the small blue flash-drive out and glancing down at it in his hand, before returning his attention to his fallen friend._

_"I'll make sure they pay for this, Gerry..." John began to say in a determined tone while putting the drive in his vest's upper-right pocket and taking his weapon in both hands once._

" _...I promise you." he added while getting back to his feet, before turning around and heading back to the Jeep. Though the Soldier did not make it even three steps before the vehicle suddenly exploded, with the shock-wave knocking him off his feet and back on to the dirt._

_'What the hell!' Porter thought as he grimaced, before the sound of bullets impacting the ground next to him made him suddenly roll to his left, away from the gunfire. The Brit then quickly sat up and fired his pistol back in the direction of the attack, noticing another jeep park just aways, behind his now burning vehicle._

_'Got to use that as cover.' John thought as he got back to his feet and charged towards the destroyed car, firing back at his attackers, three Taliban armed with AK's. They continued their attack, but due to smoke obstructing their view, the bullets harmlessly hit ground around Porter as he got to the wreckage of Collinson's Jeep._

_'God damn, that's hot.' the Soldier thought as he knelt down as near as he could comfortably get to the fire, feeling the heat on his skin as he reloaded his weapon, before straining his eyes to see through the fire and smoke, hoping to see what the Taliban would do._

_'That's good...' he began to think, having noticed that the three Men left their vehicle and started to make their way towards his location, since they did not have a clear shot on him any more._

_'...come and get me.'_

_The three Taliban then split up as they got close to the burning car, with one going either side of the wreck, while the third remained just aways. But just as the left one started to circle round to Porter's side, a gunshot was heard as blood suddenly burst out the back of his head and stained the desert floor as his body fell upon it._

_"Ali!"  one of the other two shouted in shock, before the British Soldier stepped out from that side of the fire and fired two more shots into the middle's guy's chest, sending him down on to the dirt._

_"Bastard!"  the last guy on the right of the fire shouted, before opening fire through the billowing smoke. This made Porter dive into a roll as the bullets flew over ahead, quickly ending up in a kneeling pose and finding himself with a perfect aim at the third guy._

_"Tough luck." he muttered before firing on the last guy, riddling him with bullets and killing him, leaving John on his own once more as he looked to see the three Taliban lying dead on the desert floor around him._

_The Brit then quickly looted the three bodies, taking a AK and their spare clips, before heading to their Jeep that was parked on the ridge overlooking the area._

_"Thanks for the ride, guys." he said while climbing into the front seat and noticing a map, two more clips and two hand grenades lying on the passenger-seat beside him._

_But before he could do any more, two more vehicles suddenly appeared on the horizon and sped toward his location._

_'Shit!' John thought with an aggressive expression, quickly starting the engine and turning the Jeep around as he then tried to escape them._

Back in the present, the second Taliban jeep had restarted it's pursuit of the Brit and was quickly making for lost ground as it's driver put his foot down, making a large trail of dust get kicked up into the air behind as it's other three occupants kept a lookout with their AK's at the ready.

"Over there!" one of them then shouted while pointing ahead to a deserted Jeep parked in the center of the road, smoke rising from it's engine hood.

_"Wallace may still be here, find him!"_ the driver ordered as he brought vehicle to a stop and the others climbed out. But before any of them could do any more, Porter rose up from the other side of his jeep and opened fire on his shocked pursuers, with the bullets from his weapon ripping through their bodies as he emptied an entire clip into the four Taliban.

A moment later and Porter was back on the road, with more ammunition and supplies as he noticed the daylight started to dim as the Sun began it's descent.

' _Great, I've got to find somewhere to camp for the night._ ' he thought while taking the map in his right hand, while keeping his left on the wheel.

' _There's got to be somewhere around here that will make a good hiding spot._ ' he thought while splitting his attention between the road ahead and the map, focusing around the area of the Afghan/Iran border.

**######**

_London, MI6 Headquarters_

Meanwhile, Layla entered the Section-20 Command Center and immediately looked at the main-screen, which currently showed a 'no signal' warning in it's center..

"Any luck, Danni?" she asked, gaining the British-Indian Woman's attention.

"No, not yet. We are still waiting for our Satellite to finish adjusting it's orbit, so we can have our eye in the sky over the area where we last had contact with 'John'..." she started to reply, with the blonde Woman noticing the slight feel of affection and worry in the other's voice as she spoke that name.

"...also I attempted to call him via Gerry Baxter's mobile number again, but there was no answer...just constant ringing."

"Don't worry, Danni. I am sure Collinson managed to reach him in time, plus it is not like John hasn't been in tough situations like this before." Layla said back with a comforting tone, earning a reluctant nod back from her colleague.

"Actually, I think that this has officially become the worst possible situation..." another female voice spoke from behind the pair, making them and the other workers in the room stop and look back to the door. Standing there in the doorway was a group of four people, two women and two Men dressed in Army fatigues. There was a petite Caucasian Woman with brown pixie styled hair, a tall black bearded Man, a dark-skinned Woman with shoulder length raven-hair and a tall Caucasian Man with short hair and chiselled features.

...because we have just heard via a source in the American administration that Collinson is KIA and Porter is on the run and heading to Iran..." the Caucasian Woman continued as she then entered the room, quickly followed by the others as Danni's expression changed to one of shock and fear.

"What?" she asked in disbelief, but the new arrival ignored her and carried on.

"...in fact, they have just tasked a Delta-Force Unit with a mission to kill him."

This brought confused look to Layla's face, who then shook her head slightly in reaction, before looking back at the Woman with questioning expression.

"What?...I apologise for any disrespect, but who are you?" she then asked, bringing the older Woman's stoic stare to her in return as she handed the blonde Woman a file.

"My name is Col. Elanor Grant and as of 20 minutes ago..." she began to say, before looking around the room to the others.

"...I am now in command of Section-20."

This brought a surprised look from Layla as she quickly read the file, before returning her attention to the Colonel.

"Oh, I see."

"Also, this is Maj. Oliver Sinclair..." the latter then said, gesturing to the black man standing to her right.

"..., Sgt. Julia Richmond and Sgt. Michael Stonebridge..." Grant continued, returning her attention back to Layla and Danny.

"...and you are Lt. Layla Thompson and Sgt. Danni Prendiville. And now all the introductions are out of the way, I suggest we get to work."

"And that would be...?" Danni then began to ask, bringing the Colonel's focus to her.

"That should have been made clear when I entered the room, Sergeant, because we are going to extract Porter from hostile territory and bring him home..." she started to answer, before then addressing the entire room.

"...but first we must relocate to our 'Crib' on the British Army Base in the Helmend Province of Afghanistan. Get started." Grant then finished, gaining nods from the other people in the room, before they then began to rush around the control room.

Meanwhile, the older Woman return her attention to the group standing around her.

"Once we have set up the Crib, Sgt. Stonebridge will head out to the last known co-ordinates of Porter and begin his search from there." Grant added, before turning to the younger Man.

"I know you will be able to handle this, Sergeant. That is part of the reason why I handpicked you from the SBS in the first place." she said, gaining a nod back in return.

"Of course, Maam. I will find Porter." he replied confidently, as the Colonel looked back to the others.

"We, meanwhile, will support Stonebridge with whatever Intel we can find."

This brought a worried expression to Layla's face, which did not go unnoticed by their new commanding officer.

"What is it, Lieutenant?"

"It's just, what about the Americans? Last time we tried to help John, they just came in and took over, with Collinson putting up little to no effort to resist." the blonde replied, gaining a knowing smirk from the Colonel.

"I think Frank Arlington will find that Section-20 won't be bending over for him and the USA any more."

This brought a look of relief to both Layla and Danni's faces as they nodded back, before Grant's face became stoic once more.

"Alright, People, let's get to work." she then ordered.

Back on the Iranian side of the border between it and Afghanistan, dark clouds gathered overhead as night took over the desert.

Porter sat in a cave with a small fire illuminating his surroundings, while the Jeep was parked in the cold dark outside. The Soldier leaned back against the rocky wall and sighed as he felt the heat of the fire against his skin, with this being the first real calm moment the man had experienced since beginning this mission, this mission that had already ended with failure as Gerry Baxter was now nothing more than corpse, lying out there in desert.

He thought about the photo that his late-friend had shown him, that of his family.

' _Those kids are going to have to grow up without their Father, not knowing what happened to him out here._ ' John thought with a solemn look as he stared at the fire, before a more focused expression appeared on his face.

' _No, Gerry's family will know what happened to him, I swear it._ ' he thought defiantly, before a hissing sound caught his attention from just beyond the fire, making the Soldier look in it's direction to see a Caspian Cobra slither into the cave towards him.

' _Come on, stay back there._ ' he thought while sitting up slowly with a now alert expression on his face, picking up the AK that was lying at his side.

The Animal though, continued to move towards him, attracted by the heat and light of the fire.

"I have no quarrel with you. But if you come closer, then I will have to put you down and I would rather not waste the bullets." Porter then said softly as he slowly took aim with his weapon at the creature, which moved closer still.

But then the Cobra then suddenly stopped and looked directly at the Soldier, before rising up and inflating it's sides as it hissed loudly at him, making John shake his head slowly in return.

"Sorry, mate, but you picked the wrong fight today." he replied before pulling the trigger, just as thunder crackled outside, covering the sound of his AK.

A moment later, the snake lay dead just a few feet away from Porter, who closed his eyes and tried to sleep as thunder crackled once more outside. This was followed by a flash of lightning that illuminated the whole desert for a moment, before everything was once more enveloped by the dark of night.

 

**STRIKE BACK: RETRIBUTION**

(' _Short Change Hero' playing_ )

 


	2. Chapter 2

_American Embassy, London_

A well groomed Caucasian Man in an expensive suit entered his office on the Embassy's top floor and sat down at his desk, before activating his computer and scrolling through his messages. There were a number of files, books and other items neatly arranged on the desk, including a small metal name plaque reading...

' _Mr. Frank Arlington, American Liaison to the British Government_ '.

"Mr. Arlington..." a female voice then spoke from the small Intercom standing at the far right of his desk, gaining his attention.

"...I am just checking that you remember about your 2pm meeting with the British Prime-Minister?" she added, making him press a button on the device and reply.

"Thanks for the reminder, Jenny, but I already made note of it in my schedule..." he started to say, only to stop as he noticed a new E-Mail appear in his Inbox.

"...Sir?" his Secretary then asked with a confused tone, bringing his attention back to her.

"Thanks again, Jenny. I have some important files to go through." the US Liaison quickly replied before cutting her off and clicking on the E-Mail from a Zahar Sharq.

' _We have to talk._ ' was all it said, earning an inquisitive expression from Arlington as he activated a video-chat program. And within a couple of seconds, a smartly dressed Afghan Man appeared on the screen.

"Mr. Sharq, I'm guessing from that single, rather negative sounding sentence, that Porter hasn't been neutralised." the American said with a polite tone, though it barely disguised the bitterness that he felt from hearing of Sharq's failure. But if his Ally was affected by Arlington's attitude, he did not show it as he calm and cooly stared back.

"Porter is a far more difficult man to kill than we thought, and he has now crossed the border into Iran, which is a country that we cannot follow him into." the Afghan Politician replied, earning a slight smile from Arlington in return.

"Well, there is nothing out of the Administration's reach." he said back, making Sharq stare back curiously.

"I take it that you are referring to the 'Delta Force' Unit that has been spotted in our territory?"

"That's correct. Their orders are to terminate Porter or at least divert him back over the border..." the American Liaison began to reply, only for his Ally to instinctively finish off his sentence.

"...where both our forces can surround and finish him off."

"Exactly..." Arlington then continued.

"...and this is why the Administration and I believe that an alliance with you, Mr. Sharq, will bring great dividends for our respective goals. Because like us, you can see the big picture and know just what needs to be done in order to see it through." the American added, gaining a nod from the other man as he stared back.

"Of course...Mr. Arlington, so you will keep me appraised of where and when your 'Delta-Force' makes contact with Porter?"

"Nautrally and in the meantime, my Superiors have agreed to give you whatever information and hardware that you require."

This finally brought a smile to Sharq's cold and collected expression.

"Excellent, then please allow me to give you the finer details of what it is that my associates and I need."

**STRIKE BACK: RETRIBUTION**

_20 Miles from the Afghan/Iran border_

Michael Stonebridge focused purely on the road ahead of him as he drove his Jeep down the dusty road that weaved in and out of the rocky surroundings that made up the Afghan desert, all while the hot sun mercilessly bore down on him from above in the cloudless sky overhead.

"Bravo-One, this is Zero..." Col. Grant's voice then spoke through the Sargent's earpiece.

"...our Satellite images have you coming up to the failed EZ that Maj. Collinson had set up for Porter."

This made the Soldier split his attention from the road ahead, glancing down at the GPS device that lay on the passenger seat beside him.

"Roger that, Zero. I should be arriving there any moment..." he began to reply, only to stop as he noticed the burnt-out remains of another Jeep on a ridge just ahead, making him hit the breaks as his vehicle came to a halt.

"...hold on, there is something up ahead." he continued, looking over to the wreck as a little smoke continued to rise up from it.

"We can see it as well, Bravo-One. But there is no sign of hostiles in your current location." the Colonel added over the radio, gaining a nod from Stonebridge as he looked around the area. But then he saw the slightest movement in he corner of his eye, making him look over and see a Vulture pecking at what looked like a corpse lying on the ground aways to his right.

"There's also a body, most likely that of Gerald Baxter." he then stated, before equipping his pistol and firing it up into the sky, scaring the bird away as it took off.

The Soldier then climbed out of the vehicle and made his way over to the corpse, noticing the strong smell emanating from it and the swarm of flies flying around it, making him take a breath and kneel down to examine it more closer.

"Zero, the body has been here for a few days from the look of it..." he started to explain, removing the cap that was covering the dead man's face.

"...and I can confirm that it is Gerald Baxter."

"Well there is not much we can do for him now, Bravo-One. Is there anything else that you can tell us?" his Superior then asked, making the Soldier look away to the ground, only to notice a bunch of boot-prints in the sand next to him.

"Yes, Zero..." Michael started to say as he moved away from Baxter's corpse.

"...there are several boot-prints that look only a few hours and they match the standard military issue that US Special Forces use."

"That just confirms that our sources were correct, that the US are also after Porter, Bravo-One." Grant replied over the radio, earning a nod from Stonebridge as he then saw tire tracks just a few yards away.

"And I know what direction they are heading in..." he started to reply, before glancing down at his compass.

"...which is west of this location."

"That is in the direction of the Afghan/Iran border." Layla then spoke, earning a nod from the Soldier.

"Then I better get moving, because whoever the US has sent after Porter has a good head-start over me." Michael said back as he got back to his feet, making on last scan of his surroundings while he headed back to his waiting vehicle.

"Roger that, Bravo-One. If we receive any new Intel, then we will be sure that you know it." Col. Grant then replied while standing at the Operations table in Section 20's 'Crib', before the Sargent's voice came over the radio.

"Acknowledged, Bravo-One out."

Once the Soldier had disconnected the transmission, the Commander looked down at the table before her with a thoughtful expression, earning curious looks from both Sinclair and Layla.

"Colonel?" the former then asked, making their superior look over to the latter.

"Lieutenant, please gather all our most recent Intel on troop movements along the Iranian border and have it on my desk in the next 20 minutes..." she started to say, before looking at the big screen behind them all which showed Stonebridge's signal approaching the Afghan side of the border.

"...since Stonebridge will be crossing it in the next 35."

"Yes, Colonel." Layla replied before turning away and heading Danni's direction, leaving Grant and Sinclair alone at the table.

"Major, I think it would also be a good idea to keep tabs on Frank Arlington." the former then said, gaining a curious expression from Sinclair.

"The US Liaison?" he said back, making the Colonel nod back.

"Yes, because he was the one who strong-armed Collinson into giving him the co-ordinates for Porter and Baxter's evacuation."

"I heard, it was the old 'America is bigger than Britain' chestnut." the latter said back, while Grant glanced around the room, watching everyone working at their stations.

"Well, it's only a matter of time before Arlington finds out what we are doing. And he will want to put a stop to it, which is something I am not going to let happen..." she began to reply with a determined tone.

"...not so the US can cover-up one more of it's mistakes by blaming it on someone else." she added, earning a mirrored look and a nod from Sinclair in return.

"Colonel, with your permission, I have some contacts in the US Administration. I could speak with them..." he then started to reply, which made Grant shake her head.

"It's a good idea, Major. But at this time, I would rather wait until Stonebridge has recovered Porter, before we reveal our intentions to anyone else." she answered in a respectful but firm tone, gaining a knowing expression from her Subordinate.

"Colonel, with all due respect, if I believed for any second that either of these contacts could do what you are suggesting, then I would never have made the suggestion..." the Major replied, bringing a thoughtful look to the Section-20 Leader's face.

"...and who says that I even have to make any mention of Porter or anything to do with the Section's current objectives." he continued, earning a nod from Grant.

"Very well, you have my permission to proceed." she replied, earning a nod from Sinclair before he turned and walked away. The Colonel then walked over to her desk and began looking over files, while everyone continued to work.

**STRIKE BACK: RETRIBUTION**

_Shileh, Iran_

Meanwhile, an hour or so later in the far eastern Iranian Town, Porter sat in his Jeep and watched the crowds moving through the Market-place ahead, keeping to himself so not to bring attention to his being there as foreigners, let alone British were not exactly welcome in the outer regions of the country.

"Damn it!" the Soldier cursed under his breath with a frustrated expression while looking down at Baxter's mobile, whose screen had just gone blank.

' _Battery's dead, I need another phone._ ' he added with a thought as he then looked at his surroundings, with the street continuing to be busy with people walking back and forth. But it was then that he saw at one of the stalls, it's owner finish using their mobile and placing it down on the table there.

' _Okay, I guess I have to take his while he's not looking._ ' he added before getting out of his vehicle and walking into the crowds, making his way to the Stall and his objective.

As expected, this earned some suspicious staring from the locals, who could tell instantly that Porter did not belong there, despite his trying to remain inconspicuous.

' _I'm standing out like a Nun in a Brothel._ ' the Section-20 Agent thought as he persevered to get the phone, moving through the crowds despite the glaring stares that were quickly building up as he passed by. This wasn't the first time that John had to put up with questioning looks, since he had similar experiences with people who had thought that he had killed his squad-mates back in 2003, in Iraq.

' _Just keep staring, People. Not like I give a..._ ' the Soldier began to think, only to stop a mere 10 yards away from the Stall as he saw two men just aways from him in the corner of his eye, dressed in uniforms.

' _Damn it, Police!_ ' he thought while turning his attention to them, just as they did with him. This made the Brit suddenly change direction and move away from the Cops and the Stall, trying to get out of their line of sight.

But before Porter could move, he was suddenly bumped into by another that was walking in the opposite direction.

"Watch where you're going, Arsehole!" the Man spat as he stormed passed, earning a disgruntled grunt from the British Soldier. Even though the latter did not understand the language, John did get that the other guy's reaction was rather hostile. Now if this was anywhere else, he would probably give that guy a piece of his mind, but keeping a low profile waw more important right at this moment, so he kept his focus on getting out of sight. But then something hit him, like a moment of clarity.

"Wait a minute?" Porter said under his breath as he looked back at the other man, who continued to walk away. Now at first impression, the civilian looked just like any of them in this town, except that he wore a rather heavy looking coat.

' _It's a bit too warm for that..._ ' he started to think, before his eyes narrowed as he noticed the guy's footwear.

' _...and I doubt anyone here could afford standard military boots._ ' the soldier added as he clenched his fists in response, before the other then glanced over his own soldier and stared back, their eyes meeting as John's widened in surprise.

"He's not Iranian!'

This earned a similar expression from the other guy as he suddenly turned, opened his coat and revealed an assault-rifle.

"Shit!" Porter spat as he dived behind some trash and rolled across the floor as the other opened fire on him.

The sound of gunfire panicked the crowds in the Market nearby as everyone started running in all directions, while the two Police Officers equipped their pistols and ran in it's direction. But before they even made it three feet in front of them, both men were shot in the head as blood spilled out over the floor, while a nearby woman screamed as their bodies fell to the ground.

Meanwhile, Porter had managed to get behind a nearby wall as his attacker continued to open fire on him.

' _Damn it! My AK is back in the Jeep. I need to get back to it._ ' he thought while moving back along the wall, due to the enemy's rounds breaking through it like it was toilet paper. But then the gunfire stopped, alerting the Soldier to a change in tactics.

' _He's coming._ ' he added while getting into a squat and slowly edging himself along the wall, waiting for an opening. Surely enough, the moment the muzzle of the M4 appeared around the edge of the wall, the Brit pounced and grabbed the barrel as he pulled the enemy around to him.

Porter grimaced as the heat coming off the gun's muzzle burnt into his palm, but that did not stop him from landing a punch to the other guy's face with his other hand. This caused the latter to stumble back

as the former followed through with a kick to the enemy's knee, making the him lose his balance before then having his head slammed into the wall, knocking him unconscious.

"What the...?" Porter then exclaimed with a curious tone while looking down at the felled Man's weapon.

' _That's an M4 Commando, a favorite of US Special Forces..._ ' he added, picking up the other's rifle and his side-arm.

 _'...so the Americans are still after me..._ ' John continued to dwell, before the sight of two similarly dressed men with M4s appeared from around the corner.

' _...hold that thought._ ' he finished while opening fire on them, making both men take cover as he then bolted back in the direction of his vehicle.

"Gamma-three is down and target has his weapons." one of the Men then shouted into his com, while his comrade noticed their felled team-mate begin to move.

"He's okay, just dazed."

"Good, but now get back on mission. Where is the Target heading?" another male voice spoke over the com-link, making both men look in the direction that Porter ran.

"I reckon he is heading back to his Jeep." the former replied, gaining a nod from the latter.

"I agree."

"Alright, Gammas One and Two, leave Gamma-three there and get back to the Marketplace. It is now deserted and will leave the target out in the open, that is where we will terminate him." the unknown voice said back.

"Roger that, Alpha-One." Gamma-One replied as he and his comrade got up and headed in Porter's direction, leaving their comrade to slowly recover on the ground.

Meanwhile, a sniper was in position on a rooftop that overlooked the entire marketplace, giving her excellent field of view. She could see that despite all of the gunfire and the two dead cops lying there for all to see, there were still a few civilians in the area, hiding in the buildings or behind any cover they could find.

"Everyone, there are more Police on the way, so let's get this done." She heard Alpha-One say over the-Com-link, while always looking through the scope of her rifle as Porter came into view, only to quickly get behind cover.

"The target is here, but I have no shot since he has taken cover behind one of the stalls." she said into her com-link with a calm and collected manner.

"Then take out his reason for heading back there." the leader replied, earning a nod from the Sniper as she placed the rifle down and picked up the nearby RPG.

"Fire in the hole." she then said before firing the weapon, which Porter heard just before the vehicle exploded.

' _Shit!_ ' the Brit thought as he peaked from behind a stall and saw the Jeep, which was now had fire and smoke rising up from it's burnt husk.

' _That RPG came from somewhere around here._ '

So Porter took a quick peak out from behind his cover, looking out at the area in front of him. But his attention was caught by the glimpse of some sunlight reflecting off something on the roof on the other side of the street, which made his eyes widen as the Soldier realised what it was.

"Fuck!" he exclaimed while ducking back behind the stall, just as a gunshot was heard and a bullet struck the ground just behind him.

' _A bloody Sniper...!_ ' he added while gripping the M4 in his hands, before looking back in the direction he had come from and heard footsteps approaching quickly.

' _And here comes the rest._ '

But despite the odds of the situation increasing against him, Porter took a deep breath and pictured where he saw the Sniper.

'I hope this works." John thought as he equipped the American's handgun and quickly fired blindly in the direction of the hidden sharpshooter, making her take cover as a few of his shots impacted the small rooftop wall she had her rifle balanced on.

"Damn it!" she spat while lying face down on the floor as Porter continued to fire up at her.

But then the British Soldier saw his chance and quickly leaped over the stall and began sprinting across the exposed street, just as the other two Americans appeared and fired their weapons at him. The gunfire narrowly missed Porter as he focused on getting away, before disappearing down the alleyway that was ahead of him.

"Shit!" Gamma-One spat as he quickly reloaded his weapon, while Gamma-four started looking down the scope of her rifle again, trying to regain a visual of their target.

"Gamma-four, report!" Alpha-One ordered over the Com-link, unease and frustration evident in his voice.

"The Target got away." the Sniper replied, gaining a nod from Gamma-two.

"Yeah, he's good."

"I don't care what you think of him, Gamma-two. I just want you to complete our orders, so please tell me that one of you managed to get a tracker on him?"

"Yeah, I did..." Gamma-three then said as he rejoined his comrades, holding what looked to be a Mobile in his hands.

"...and he is heading towards a Warehouse 300 metres from here." he added while pointing across the street, gaining a nod from the others.

" -four, better get down here and join us, because this particular target will obviously take some extra effort to take down." Gamma-One said into his com-link, making the Sniper acknowledge from the rooftop before equipping her assault rifle and heading downstairs.

"...and Gamma-three, don't lose this one." the team-leader then began to say as he handed his comrade his side-arm, before looking in the direction of the warehouse as Alpha-One spoke to them all over their com-links.

"As soon as Gamma-four rejoins you, move in on the warehouse and take the Target down. We don't have alot of time left before more Police show up here and if we are identified, it will give our Superiors an international headache."

All the American Soldiers nodded back as the Sniper exited the building and regrouped with the other, earning a serious look from Gamma-One.

"Okay, let's move."

Meanwhile, back in the Crib, Danni was working purposefully at her desk before something appeared on her screen, making her eyes widen in response.

"Colonel!" she suddenly called out, gaining the attentions of Grant, Sinclair and Lyla, who all quickly joined the former's side.

"What is it lieutenant?" her Superior asked, prompting the younger Woman to begin reading aloud the data from her screen.

"We just intercepted a message from a Police-station in the Iranian border town of Shileh. Apparently, there has been a reports of an unknown group of people attacking someone and none of them are Iranian."

"It must be the Americans, they have found Porter." Sinclair replied, bringing an inqusitive expression to Grant's face as she then looked back at the map of the region that was on the main screen before them.

"Where did Stonebridge say he was during his last check-in?"

"The Sargent said that he had successfully crossed the border into Iran, which means that he should nearly at that town." Layla reported.

"Get this information to him..." the Colonel then said to Danni, before looking over at Sinclair and Lalya, who lookedback with concerned expression.

"...we can only hope that Stonebridge can get there in time." she added, gaining nods from them.


	3. Chapter 3

Bullets were flying around Porter as he attempted to stay one step ahead of his pursuers, quickly turning into an alleyway just as some of the projectiles impacted on a wall next to him.

' _That was too close.'_ the British soldier thought, before taking a quick moment to take in his immediate surroundings.

' _I really need some cover._ ' He thought before taking in his immediate surroundings, noticing a door just to his left. So without even thinking twice, John kicked the door open and ran inside, just as the American soldiers entered the alleyway and noticed the bursted open door. This gained an unsure expression from Gamma-One as he looked between the open door and the remainder of the alleyway, before turning to Gamma-Three.

"Is he...?" he started to ask, only for his comrade to cut him off with a smirk.

"In the Warehouse? Yes, he is." The soldier replied, gaining a nod back from the leader in return as he activated his radio.

"The Target has taken refuge in an abandoned building." He stated, before the voice of their Commander spoke back over the com.

"As Gamma-Four said before, that building is a warehouse. I have access to its schematics and it only has one entrance/exit, so Porter has been backed into a corner."

"Yes, we will get him, Alpha-One..." Gamma-One began to reply, before looking back out at the open street behind them.

"...Gamma-Four, you will guard this entrance when you reach us. Understood?"

"Will do." The Woman's voice spoke back, while the three men then entered the building, finding themselves standing in a tight corridor with stairs to their right and another doorway to their left which they could see led into the large storage room.

"Gamma-Three, take the stairs. Gamma-Three, with me." The lead-soldier ordered as the group then split up.

As Gamma-Three ascended to the first floor, Porter was taking cover behind some supply boxes as he checked his weapons. From his vantage point, the British-soldier could see not only the top of the stairs, but also down to the floor below since the first floor was essentially one long balcony that ran around the walls of the building.

' _So, they've split up. That should make things a little easier._ ' He thought, noticing just two of the enemies entering the room below, quickly separating and searching either side of it. While the sounds of approaching footsteps made him return his attention to the stairs, as Gamma-Three appeared there. But then as he quickly returned his attention to his weapons, Porter noticed that he was low on bullets for his M4.

' _Okay, I will need more for this._ ' he thought before switching to his side-arm and pressing his back up against the stack of boxes, just as the American soldier unknowingly closed in on his position.

"Gamma-One, there is no sign of him up here." he said into his radio.

"He is in here, just keep looking." Gamma-One answered back in an irritated tone, gaining a reluctant nod back from her soldier as he approached a large stack of boxes.

"Well, I want another cracking at this guy, because no one gets the drop on me twice..." He began to say, just as he gripped his weapons tightly and turned around the stack. But before he could say anything else, Porter quickly grabbed him by his hands and pushed the weapon down to help ground.

"Careful what you wish for." The Brit remarked as the enemy-soldier eyes widened in return.

"Wha...?" he exclaimed before Porter followed through with a punch to the face, which made the former instinctively pull the trigger of his weapons, firing a shot into the floor and alerting his comrades.

"First Floor!" Gamma-One could be heard shouting, as the British-soldier hit the other American again, before noticing a flashback grenade on his utility belt.

' _That will do._ ' He thought while snatching the device and elbowing Gamma-Three once more in the face, knocking him to the ground. John the followed through by pulling it's pin and through the grenade down to the floor below.

"Look out!" Gamma-Three shouted, before the room was enveloped in a bright flash of white light and a deafening boom, which disorientated both Delta Force operatives.

Gamma-One, come in." A female voice then spoke over the team-leader radio, as he lied on his stomach and shook his head as he tried to recover.

"Gamma-Four, ...report." Gamma-One stammered as he and his comrade got to their knees, while the sounds of fighting could just about be heard from above as the effects of the flashback wore off.

"We have incoming." The sniper replied in an alert tone, earning a curious look from the leader.

"Iranian Police?"

"No, someone else."

**-STRIKE BACK: RETRIBUTION-**

Meanwhile, Stonebridge drove his jeep into the town market, noticing how desolate it appeared.

"Zero, I'm entering the market square and I could have sworn that I heard gunfire just now." He said into his com-link, keeping a watchful eye on his surroundings as he switched into second dear and slowed the vehicle down.

"Look sharp, Bravo-One. That area is where the trouble started, according to their police's radio chatter." Layla replied over the radio, gaining a nod from the soldier before something caught his attention from just ahead.

'What the...?' Michael started to think as his eyes focused on a flash of light coming from an alleyway entrance about 20 yards away, like something was reflecting the sunlight back at him.

' _...oh shi..!'_ he concluded with his eyes widening as he realised what it was, quickly braking as he grabbed the weapon beside him. But almost immediately, the bullets began to fly as he was fired upon from the alleyway. Stonebridge dived out of the vehicle on too the ground on it's other side, but not before one stray bullet scraped his right shoulder.

"Fuck!" he grimaced before taking cover behind the jeep, with gunfire continuing without pause as it hit and ricocheted off it.

"Bravo-One, report!" Grant shouted over the radio, while the British man leaned back against the vehicle's front left wheel.

"I am under fire, Zero, from an alleyway about 20 yards away." He stated before the Jeep's side mirror was hit, shattering it into pieces on the ground next to him.

"Apologies, Bravo-One, but we are experiencing problems with our satellite-link at the moment, so I am afraid we cannot offer much help at the moment." Danny added with a worried tone, earning an understanding smirk back from the Brit.

"That's okay. I already know where it's coming from." Stonebridge replied with a quiet confidence to his words, before taking a deep breath just as the gunfire stopped.

' _Okay...'_ He thought before rolling onto his front so he could see the alleyway from between the ground and the underside of the jeep, his weapons already locked and loaded as he stared down it's sights.

' _...there you are.'_ He added while noticing a female sniper crouched behind the alleyway's left wall, having good just finished reloading her weapon. She then looked back through it's scope, trying to spot him behind his bullet-ridden jeep, when she suddenly tightened up as she spotted him.

' _No, you don't._ ' the Brit thought as he opened fire on her with three shots from his rifle, with one hitting the wall behind her, while the other two hit her right knee and shoulder.

"Urrgh!" she grimaced in pain while falling down onto her back, while Stonebridge got back onto his knees and quickly scanned the area ahead as gunfire could be heard beyond the alleyway entrance.

"All clear, Zero. I can hear more gunfire and am moving in to investigate." He reported into his radio, before then making his way to the alleyway.

"Roger that, Bravo-One. Be careful."

Back in the Warehouse, Porter dived behind the cover of more boxes as the two American soldiers on the ground-floor had recovered and started firing up in his general direction, while Gamma-Three was still flat on his back nearby.

"Did you hear that?" Gamma-Two asked, making the squad leader shake his head before firing another burst of bullets up at Porter.

"Hear what?"

"Sounded like gunfire outside. Perhaps..." the other soldier started to say, only for Gamma-One to cut him off.

"Gamma-Four can handle it, focus on the target." He shouted over their combined weapons fire, while on the floor above, Porter weighed his options as he hid behind a stack of wooden boxes as the bullets flew over his head.

' _Damn it, I heard that gunfire too. Probably the Iranian reinforcements._ ' He thought before taking a peek out from the side of the boxes at the enemies below, noticing one gesture to the other to head for the stairs.

' _Not good.'_ He added before looking back at Gamma-Two, who was still slowly recovering on the floor next to him and noticed that he was carrying more than just flashbangs. So he stayed low and moved to the enemy soldier, before taking another flashbang and a grenade.

"Sorry, Mate, but I need these more than you." Porter said, earning a groan from the other guy as he armed the latter device and tossed at the stairwell, just as Gamma-Two was climbing them.

"Shit! Grenade!" he exclaimed in a panic before the explosive went off, knocking the guy into the concrete wall behind him.

"Gamma-Two!" the lead-soldier called out, just before another flashbang was tossed over the balcony in his general direction.

"God damn..." he spat while quickly shielding his eyes only seconds before the room was once again enveloped in a flash of white light, disorientating him more.

' _Now!_ ' Porter then thought as he quickly got to his feet and jumped over the balcony's railing, landing on the floor below just aways from the dazed enemy-leader. He then started for the exit, but was stopped as a gunshot was fired, hitting a pillar just to his left.

"Hold it!" Gamma-Three exclaimed from the floor above, having recovered and was now aiming a handgun at his target, who stopped and slowly put his hands in the air.

"You're not going anywhere..." the American added before glancing down to Gamma-One, who too had recovered and now aimed his rifle at Porter as well.

"You alright, Sir?" he asked, gaining a nod back.

"Yes, now go and check on Gamma's Two and Four while I execute our Target here." The lead-soldier replied while walking in front of Porter, stopping between the Brit and the exit, never lowering his weapon as the latter stared back with a silent rage.

"You really are a piece of work, Porter. I thought Command was exaggerating when gave us your profile, but you're the real deal, aren't you..?" Gamma-One began to say while the British Soldier remained silent and just stared daggers back at him, before Gamma-Three spoke up.

"Gamma-Two is alive, Sir, but he is going to need medical attention." He shouted, earning a nod back from the leader.

"Call for an evac and go check on Gamma-Four while I finish Porter in the meantime." He replied while quickly switching to his pistol.

"Now I was going to execute you on your knees..." he started to say, his words underlined with a respectful tone as he aimed the handgun at Porter's head.

"...but I don't think that kind of death is worthy of a soldier like you..." he continued, as John just stayed quiet and closed his hands into fists.

"...because I would rather fight beside one like you than put one down, what a waste." he then finished while tightening his finger against the trigger as Porter simply closed his eyes, waiting for the inevitable as he remembered his Daughter.

' _I'm so sorry, Lexie..._ ' he began to think, only to stop as he felt a fire erupt from within himself.

' _...No! I am not going out like this!_ ' the Brit thought while opening his eyes and gritting his teeth, just as the other Delta Force soldier shouted, taking the leader's the attention away.

"CONTACT!" was all that the two Men heard, earning a confused look from Gamma-One as he instinctively glanced over his shoulder towards the door. This gave Porter the moment he was after, so the soldier lunged at his enemy.

"What...?!" the American began to say before he was then tackled to the ground, with Porter punching the guy in the face, making him drop his pistol to the ground as he started to fight back. The pair wrestled there on the floor, exchanging hits as they both fought to gain an advantage over the other.

"I...should...have...known...that it...wouldn't..." the Delta Force soldier managed to say as they rolled around on the floor fighting, before finishing up with Porter on top, who hit him with a right hook.

"...be that...easy." he added, before managing to equip his knife and slash the former SAS soldier's right arm.

"Arrrgh!" Porter grimaced, before Gamma-One followed through with another punch to the former's face with his free hand, forcing his opponent back enough for the American to then kick him off. This sent the Brit falling on to his back, further away from freedom as the latter quickly equipped his rifle, which was still harnessed to him, and aim it back at his enemy.

"You fight well, but it's over." the US soldier said with a slight tenseness to his voice, since his cheek still smarted from that last right hook. Meanwhile, Porter panted a little before spitting out some blood onto the floor as he slowly began to sit up, never taking his eyes off the other guy.

"How...about...you just...take the shot, before...you give me...another opening." he replied in a critical tone, earning a slight smirk from Gamma-One in return, who shook his head and chuckled.

"I like you, Porter, but..." he began to say as the pair found themselves in the same situation once again, before starting to pull the trigger.

"Stop right there!" another voice called out from behind the two men, one with a distinctively British accent, gaining their attention as they looked back to see a Man standing just aways from the exit with his rifle pointed at the American.

"Drop the gun, now!" he spat, earning a sigh from Gamma-One, who did just that while Porter looked at he new arrival with a confused look.

"And here I thought, that the British Government had given up on Porter over here. Since doing otherwise would out you at odds with us, your Allies." The Delta Force team-leader replied as the other British Soldier stood over him, never lowering his weapon as he stared down at him.

"Well, you thought wrong." he replied, before tossing a handgun to Porter, who caught it with a bemused look, before checking that it was fully loaded.

"I guess we did, but you guys are going to be in trouble now." Gamma-One said back with a knowing tone and smirk, gaining a shrug from the armed man.

"We'll see about that..." he began to reply, before hitting American in the face with the butt of his rifle, knocking the latter out as he turned his attention to Porter.

"...what do you say to getting out of here?"

This earned a cautious look from the other Brit as he sat there on the ground.

"And you are? He asked back.

"My name is Michael Stonebridge, I'm a Sergeant working for Section 20..." the arrival began to explain, which made Porter's eyes narrow as he then pointed the pistol directly at the former.

"Wait! What are you doing?!" the younger Man exclaimed, holding his hands before him in a none-threatening manner.

"The last person who came for me worked for Section-20 and he wanted to kill me. So am I a dirty little problem that HMG wants go get rid of?" Porter asked with a firm and distrusting tone as he continued to aim the gun at the other soldier.

"No, that couldn't be further from the truth. Col. Eleanor Grant is now in charge of Section-20 following the death and discredit of Maj. Collinson. She sent me into Iran to bring you back home..." Stonebridge began to explain, only to be cut short as Porter interrupted him with a curious expression.

"Eleanor sent you?" he asked, ever so slightly lowering his weapon while doing so. This gained a nod from Michael.

"Yes, the Colonel did."

This made the other Brit lower the gun completely and sigh as he slouched, sighing in return.

"I'm sorry, Mate. I have been running on instinct for a while now, even before this mess with the US and Taliban. It's just been me out here, on my own and usually in the dark." Porter replied with a tinge of regret to his voice, before Stonebridge walked over and offered him his hand.

"Well, not anymore."

John looked up at the open hand and then at the face of the younger man who was offering it, who gave him a reassuring smile. This made the former mirror that expression before taking his hand, before he latter helped him to his feet.

"What did you say was your name again?" He asked.

"Michael Stonebridge." The younger man replied, gaining a nod back as they then shook hands.

"John Porter."

"Nice to meet you, now pick up what you need from our unconscious friends here, while I contact the Crib." The other Brit said back, earning a curious look from his new comrade.

"The Crib?"

"It's Section-20's Mobile Command Station. Col. Grant set one up at the British Army Base in Afghanistan's Helmand Province." Michael explained as he tapped his radio-earpiece, while Ported knelt down and picked up Gamma-One's rifle and took his spare clips as well.

"I'm getting used to taking these guys stuff." He then said with a chuckle.

"Zero, this is Bravo-One."

"Sergeant, what is the sit-rep?" Col. Grant then asked over the radio, making the soldier look back at his new friend.

"I've made contact with Porter and we are now heading back out of the town..." he began to reply, before turning his attention to the exit and the alleyway beyond it.

"...but I need to know if we should be expecting any trouble."

"Just a moment, Stonebridge." The Colonel replied, before another voice spoke up.

"Sergeant, we have re-established contact with our satellite and have image of the area your signal is coming from. The Iranian Police reinforcements are just under 4 minutes out, while there is an unmarked helicopter approaching from the west, that will be there in two." Layla then said, earning a nod from Michael.

"Thanks, we are on our way out now."

"Roger that, Bravo-One." Grant then finished, before the soldier ended the talk and turned to Porter, who was standing there with weapon in hand.

"Ready when you are." The older Man said with a confident smirk, gaining a mirrored look from Stonebridge in return.

"My jeep is outside. It's a little shot up, but should get us back over the border. Let's go."

With that, both men then headed out of the building, passed both beaten Delta Force members as they left the alleyway and climbed into the Jeep. But as Gamma-Two remained unconscious, lying next to the Warehouse's entrance.

The team's sniper was preoccupied with trying to treat wounds, which had become far more difficult, considering she only had one working arm at the moment. So all she could do was watch as her team's target escaped in the other guy's vehicle, before her attention was caught by her radio activating.

"Gamma team, come in. Your chopper for extraction will be at your location in under 3 minutes. Did you complete your objective, is Porter neutralised?" Alpha-One then said, making the Sniper grimace as she stopped what she was doing and grabbed her radio.

"Negative, Alpha-One. The target got away with some help. But we are in need of some medical attention." She replied while glancing over at Gamma-Two, earning a second or two of silence from the leader.

"...I see, well I will inform the Chopper's crew. Just make sure you and the others are ready for a quick extraction, because the Iranian police are only minutes away."

"Copy that, Gamma-Four out." The woman replied painfully, before turning her attention back to her comrades.

"Well, that went well."

**-STRIKE BACK: RETRIBUTION-**

_US Embassey, London_

Meanwhile, Arlington was in the middle of a meeting with several other people when his phone began to ring.

"Please excuse me." He said with a polite tone, before getting up from the table and walking to the corner of the room and taking the call, out of earshot of the others.

"Arlington." He answered with quiet confidence about him.

"Mission Failure, target is in the wind." Alpha-One spoke, earning a sudden inflexion of frustration to the US Liaison's face as he sighed disappointedly.

"What happened?" he asked, barely keeping his anger hidden behind his calm voice.

"The team reported that Porter was aided by another British Soldier. One even swears they heard him mention 'Section-20' as they recovered..." Alpha-One answered, only for Arlington to cut him off.

"Recovered? Weren't 'any' of them killed?" he asked with a curious tone.

"No, Sir. It appears that wasn't on the cards for the British."

"Well, that's unfortunate..." Arlington began to say with a disappointed tone once more, before glancing back at the meeting, where the others were talking amongst themselves.

"...but I guess that we will have to make do with the situation as it is."

"Sir?" Alpha-One asked with confusion evident in his voice, even over the phone.

"Send another team in pursuit."

"But we do not know where Porter and the British soldier are heading." The Delta Force Commander said back, making the Politician grit his teeth in return.

"Isn't it obvious! They will be heading back into Afghanistan at the closest side of the border possible. So send a team in that direction. While you do that, I will find out where their extraction point is and have 'someone else' slow them down. So get started and don't contact me until it is done." He then said with a snap to his voice, before turning off the phone and turning back to the meeting, only to find himself being himself at by the others at the table.

"I apologise, but something has come up and I must go back to my office." he quickly said, breaking the moment of silence in the room as he recovered his composure and walked over to his suitcase.

"Yes, we completely understand." one of the suits said back, before another spoke up.

"Each one of us, in one time or another, had to leave during a meeting in a hurry over something that needed our immediate attention."

"So, we will all end this meeting now and reconvene at a later time, which will be convenient for all of us." the former replied, gaining an appreciative nod back from Arlington as they all began to pack their suitcases.

"Until then." he replied before hastily leaving the room and heading up the nearby stairwell to his office, not acknowledging any person who may walk by his person as he did so.

But as soon as the American entered his assistant's office, Jenny focused her attention on Frank as he walked past.

"Mr. Arlington, you have three messages waiting for you on your desk." she said, making him stop and look back at her.

"They will have to wait, Jenny, but please get me the name of whoever is running Section-20 and connect me to them."

"Okay, Sir." she replied before returning to her computer, while Arlington entered his office and sat down behind his desk and activated his computer, bringing up his e-mail.

' _Mr. Sharq, we need to talk. Contact me asap._ ' he typed, before clicking the send button, just as his inter-com activated.

"Mr. Arlington, I have MI6 on the line. They say that a Col. Eleanor Grant is now leading their Section-20, but she is not in the office at the moment." Jenny said, bringing a look of frustration to the Politian's face, since he knew the reason why.

"Then tell them to connect me to wherever she is, because I want to speak to her. It is important." he replied, hiding his growing annoyance behind a calm tone.

"Of course, Sir." the young lady politely said back, only to be followed by an uncomfortable silence as the US Liaison then sat and waited.

' _Section-20 are not going to get in the way again_.'


	4. Chapter 4

 

 

 

_Miles from the Afghan/Iran border_

 

Porter and Stonebridge drove over the Iranian desert on their way to the country's border with Afghanistan, while the sun continued to shine down mercilessly on the pair in their Jeep.

"What's the plan for getting over the border?" the older man asked with a curious tone as he looked over at the driver, who kept his attention on the road ahead.

"Considering the trouble we had in Shileh, it would be my guess that the border will have some extra security. So we should find a quiet spot to camp and try to cross at nightfall in the meantime."

"That's a good idea, though I don't like the thought of being stuck on this side of the border with both Iranian and US soldiers looking for us." John replied with a cautious tone, gaining a reassuring look from Michael in return.

"It's only for a few hours, which is exactly what Delta Force will need to prepare and send out another team. By the time we make our move on the border, they will only just be picking up our trail. We will be long gone before they even notice that we have done so, meaning all we have to worry about are the Iranians." he said back, making the other soldier's expression change as he sighed and took a sip of the driver's canteen.

"I guess. Sorry if I sound a little unappreciative, but it feels like I have been on the run for longer than a few days." Porter expressed, earning a glance back from the young driver.

"No need for apologies, Porter. When you've been chased around and had your back against the wall, always only a step or two ahead of being killed. I can imagine that a day or two must feel a lot longer." Stonebridge answered, gaining a curious look from John.

"Sounds like you've had some experience in that regard?" he quizzed, bringing a knowing smirk to Michael's face as kept his eyes on the road.

"In the tours I did for both the Royal Marines and the SBS in Iraq and Afghanistan, there were a number of times when I thought that this might be it. That today's the day that I'm going to be bite the bullet…" the Section-20 soldier continued, before looking over to his passenger with a modest stare.

"…but that's not the same as what you have been through recently." He finished before being handed the canteen from John, who nodded in response.

"Well, we both know that us soldiers can be given up to our enemies by our Government if the situation and timing suits their politics..." John started to say, gaining a nod back from Michael.

"...but with this, I couldn't shake the gut feeling that wasn't the case here."

"And you were right. Layla said that Collinson had been strong-armed into giving up your position to the Americans..."

"Who just happen to be working with the Taliban, which I bet is something that Washington would not like to become public knowledge." Porter added, cutting Stonebridge off midsentence, who nodded back in return.

"The Colonel believes the same thing, which is why I am here and bringing you and the proof back to her." He replied, prompting the other soldier to take the flash-drive out of his shirt pocket, revealing it to the driver.

"Well, it better be worth it. Enough people have died over this."

"It will be, John..." Michael began to reply, only to be cut off as Grant's voice came over the Comm.

"Bravo One, report."

"Zero, we are on our way to the border as I speak." The younger soldier replied, earning Porter's attention as he looked over at him while putting the flash-drive away.

"And the status of the target?" Grant then asked in return, making Stonebridge gesture to the backpack that lay in the back of the Jeep, just behind Porter.

"You can ask him, Zero." The former continued while the latter looked into the pack and found a spare comm-unit, quickly equipping in response.

"Zero, this is...Bravo-Two." John answered before a familiar voice spoke back, one that he remembered for always sounding professional and cold at times.

"It's good to hear your voice, Sergeant." The Colonel replied, with the soldier recognising a crack in her usual armoured demeanour as relief tinged her voice.

"Same here, Colonel. So..." he began to say, before another voice could be heard speaking to Grant, though Porter could not make it out.

"Colonel?" Stonebridge then asked, mirroring the confused look of his companion as he drove their Jeep through the Iranian desert.

"Apologies, Sergeants, but the Colonel has another call to take." A familiar voice then said, earning a smirk from Porter in return.

"Layla! If you're there, then that means..." he began to say, only to be cut off as another woman came onto the Comm.

"Hello, John." She said with a caring tone, making the Man's smirk change into a warm smile, one that Stonebridge noted as he glanced over at him.

"Hi, Danni."

"You know, I swore you told me that you would be careful out there?" the woman then replied with a teasing tone, which made Porter feign a pained sigh in response.

"I know, Danni. I'm trying, believe me." He said back while looking out at the horizon, picturing her face in his mind.

"Well, I'm just glad that you're alright. I have read up on the Sergeant with you, he's one of the best." Danni replied, making the older soldier look over at the driver.

"Yeah, and he should be. Especially if he is a part of our Unit." He said with a knowing look, earning a nod from the latter in return as a other more serious male voice spoke up.

"This line of converse can continue later, preferably when our two soldiers are back here."

This gained a surprised and confused look from John, while it was Michael's turn to look on knowingly.

"And who is this?" the older soldier asked over the Comm.

This is Zero, Bravo-Two. We will call you back when we have our extraction plan ready. So in the meantime, keel your distance from the border. Is that understood?" the voice repIied, earning a nod from Stonebridge as he tapped the comm-unit under his shirt.

"Understood, Zero. Bravo out." he answered before there was once more silence over the radio, while Porter looked back to him with an irked expression.

"Who was that?"

"That was Maj. Sinclair and he is the Colonel's Second in Command. I don't know much about him, other than he is a 'very by the book' soldier." Michael replied, gaining a nod from his older friend in response.

"Yeah, I can see that too." he said back before the driver then drove their jeep offroad, keeping it parallel to the border several miles away.

" Anyway, I'm going to put some distance between us and any of the nearby roads that lead to the border, before making a stop and waiting for our next move." Stonebridge replied.

"Good idea, but let's hope that we don't have to wait too long." Porter agreed as they continued into the desert.

**STRIKE BACK: RETRIBUTION**

_Section 20 'Crib' – British Army Base, Afghanistan_

Meanwhile, Col. Grant walked towards her office alongside one of her personal, leaving the others gathered around the operations table.

"So, what was so important that it could not wait, Lieutenant Brady?" she asked in a brazen manner, whilst the younger man remained calm and professional in her presence.

"Forgive me, Ma'am, but you have a call from the UK waiting. A Frank Arlington at the US Embassy has requested to speak with you." He explained, which brought at knowing look to Eleanor's face.

"Very well, I'll take it in here." She replied while gesturing to her office, earning a nod and a courteous smile to the man's face.

"I have already transferred the call, Ma'am. He is on Line Beta.

"Very good, Lieutenant. You may go." She then ordered, with the younger officer doing exactly that as she closed the door and walked over to her desk.

The woman then gave off a sigh as she looked down at the black phone, with it's blinking light for Line Beta.

' _Let's get this over with._ ' The Colonel then thought, before picking it's receiver and clicking flashing button.

"Colonel Grant." she the said, trying to mask her annoyance with her usual professional manner.

"Why, hello, Colonel. This is Frank Arlington, US Liaison to the UK. I have been trying to reach you." The American replied in a friendly tone, which unbeknownst to him, didn't make Grant feel any better as she listened to him.

"I see, and how may I help you, Mr. Arlington?"

"Well, as I'm sure you are aware, Colonel, I worked with your predecessor, Maj. Collinson. I heard about his death, which was a real shame. But I wanted to meet you and offer my services in the hope that we could share the same productive relationship. Instead, I find that you were not in your office...or even the country. Why is that, Colonel?" Arlington asked with a curious tone, making the Colonel tighten her grip around the receiver.

"That...is very thoughtful of you, Mr. Arlington." she began to say, feigning appreciation.

"Please, Frank..." He then began to say, continuing to speak with a friendly tone and manner.

"...so, where are you?"

"Before I answer your question, 'Frank', perhaps you could answer mine?" Grant asked in response, which brought a few seconds of silence before the Liaison answered.

"Alright, Eleanor. May I call you Eleanor?" Arlington replied, making the Colonel narrow her eyes as she sat there in her office, listening to his slimy tone.

"I prefer Colonel, Mr. Arlington. Because I have earned the title." the Section-20 leader said back with an ever so slight sting to her words, which obviously did not go un-noticed by the American."...okay, very well, Colonel. So...ask your question." he replied as his tone wavered, giving Eleanor just a small tint of satisfication.

"How do you know that Col. Collinson is dead? Because I have yet to write up the report on that manner, which means that both my government and your's have yet to receive it." There was then another moment of silence between the two, lasting a couple of seconds as a knowing expression befell the Colonel'`s face as she decided to speak up again.

"Your silence says it all, Mr. Arlington. So let's cut through all this false pretense and get to the facts.I already know that you are working with Zadir Sharq, which I guess is how you know about the late Major. I also know that this call is nothing more than an attempt to find out about Sgt. Porter and try bully this Section in to giving him up." she then said with a fire in her tone, though it did not seem to faze Alrington.

"I'd be careful, Colonel, in how you choose to speak to me. Because as I told your predecessor, America's interests trumps your's."

"I honestly do not care, nor do I have the time to deal with the likes of you, Mr. Arlington. I am nothing like Maj. Collinson and I will not allow this Section to bow to any pressure from your Administration. But then again, I highly doubt that you actually are speaking on their behalf...on 'this particular matter'." Eleanor then replied with a calm confidence and defiance to her voice, remaining professional despite how her gut was telling her how to act.

"Then let's see what your superiors think of this, Colonel. I am calling..." the US Liaison then began to say, his voice betraying his confident tone before Col. Grant put the phone down, ending the call and quickly leaving the room.

While back in London, Frank slammed his own phone down onto it's holder.

"Shit!" he cursed with an aggravated tone while tapping a button on his intercom.

"Jenny, did you get an answer from our contacts at MI6?"

"I am sorry, Sir. But they were relluctant to divulge the Colonel's current location." his Secretary replied, making the American even more furious looking.

"Okay, Jenny. You tried your best." Arlington said back, keeping his temper under control before deactivating the intercom and looking out of the window.

' _Well, I have more than 'one way' to find out._

**STRIKE BACK: RETRIBUTION**

Back in the Crib, Grant exited her office and rejoined the group at the operations table.

"Alright, People. We have to get Porter and Stonebridge back here now." She ordered, gaining the others attention.

"Colonel?" Sinclair replied with a curious tone, while Layla, Danni and Richmond remained quiet.

"Because I just got off the phone with Arlington..." Grant began to explain, making the two original members of Section-20 glance at each other knowingly.

"...who tried to pressure us into giving up Porter, which I am not going to do." The Colonel continued with a defiant undertone to her voice, gaining an unsure look from Layla.

"But he will probably just call on his superiors to put more pressure on us."

"I don't think so. I think all that talk of America above Britain was just him beating his chest. I have a feeling that his superiors in Washington do not even know what he is doing with Sharq." The Section-20 leader said back, bringing a curious expression to her SEC's face.

"That's an interesting theory, Ma'am, but we need proof."

"That's why we need to get Porter back here, because he has the proof." Danni replied with a knowing look, gaining agreeing smiles from both Layla and Col. Grant.

"Exactly, so we need to move fast." the older woman agreed, before Sinclair spoke up again.

"I have already asked the Commander of this base, if he has any helicopters at our disposal, Ma'am. There is one fuelled and ready on the pad right now."

"Excellent. And what about the extraction site?" the Colonel then asked, looking at Layla, Danni and Richmond.

"We and Sgt. Richmond have found a site not too far from the border and is currently free of any trouble from the Taliban, Ma'am." Layla explained as she pointed to an area on the map, gaining a nod from the Colonel in return.

"Very good..." Grant began to say before turning her attention to Brady, who was working at a station behind her.

"Lieutenant, make sure the coordinates here are given to the helicopter pilot..." she continued, earning a nod from the younger man as both Layla and Danni took a step toward the Section-20 leader.

"Colonel, I would like to be on that chopper when it goes for Porter and Stonnebrige." The blonde woman then said.

"As would I, Ma'am." Danni added in quick succession, bringing a thoughtful expression to the Colonel's face as she saw the determination and loyalty for their friend in theirs.

"Very well, Permission granted. Go and get ready." She replied, gaining nods from the pair as they started to leave.

"Thank you, Colonel." They both said back with appreciative tones, while Grant turned back to the Lieutenant.

"Brady, also let the pilot know that he will have two extra hands with him."

"Of course, Ma'am." The younger man answered before turning back to his station, while she looked over to Sinclair and Richmond.

"Richmond, get me Stonebridge."

A moment earlier, back in the Iranian desert. Porter and Stonebridge had parked their jeep in the middle of literally nowhere, waiting patiently for their next order.

"So tell me something, Michael..." John began to say, while the other looked out at the horizon with his binoculars.

"...have you a wife? Kids?"

"Kids? No, but my wife and I are trying for one. Her name is Kerry." Stonebridge replied, before looking back at older man with a curious expression.

"You have a daughter, right?"

"Yeah, she's a teenager..." he answered with a smile, gaining a knowing smirk from Michael in return.

Oh yeah, so she is troublemaker then?" he joked, making the other guy chuckle for a moment, before he went silent.

"John?" Michael asked, turning around to see the other guy looking regretful.

"I really don't know..." the older man began to say with a tinge of sadness to his voice.

"...I mean I should, I'm her Father after all. But I'm a stranger to her, because she thinks that I killed three of my mates, which I did not do..." He continued, earning a understanding look from Stonebridge.

"The Bratton Extraction. I read about that in your file on the way over to Afghanistan. Three members of your squad were thought to have been killed by an Iraqi boy that you let live, leading to you resign in disgrace." he said, making the other man nod back.

"Yeah, I have spent the last 7 years living with the guilt of that moment, believing that I was responsible for their deaths, as well as my best mate 'Steve' being in a coma. In everyone's eyes, it was my fault. This drove a wedge between me and my family, ending my relationship with my wife and poisoning that which I shared with Lexi..." John added, whilst Michael remained quiet and listened as they sat in the Jeep, under the baking heat of the sun above them.

"... but the only hope I had, was that Steve was one day going to wake up and prove my innocence."

"But then he died, which led Layla to the truth about it all. She told us everything about that." The younger man then replied, gaining a hopeful look from Porter.

"So everyone knows?"

"Only the Section knows right now. But once we get back to the UK, the Colonel and Layla will see to it that you are exonerated for Collinson's lies." Michael answered, earning a sigh from John as the former then gave the latter a curious look.

"So what happened to Collinson? I mean, the Colonel had heard from a source in the US that he had died, but we don't know the details." Stonebridge asked, making Porter look back with a thoughtful expression.

"Hugh came out here to kill me, to tie up loose ends. But instead, he ended up confessing to it all. I saw it in his eyes as he told me, the guilt that he had been living with. He was a prisoner of 'what happened in Iraq', same as me." he replied, while Stonebridge gave him a concerned stare.

"Yeah, but you didn't deserve to share in that prison, John. "

"No, I didn't. And Hugh knew that..." Porter started to say back with a look of understanding on his face.

"...you know for those seven years, he was always finding ways to help me and my family. It made me angry, thinking that he was just doing these things to keep me in his debt. But really, he was just trying to make amends..."

"Except in the one way that would count the most." Michael cut in, earning a slight lop-sided grin from the older Soldier.

"True. But I forgave him none the less. And in the end, he sacrificed himself so that I could get away. He told me to go home and then covered me as I made my way to his Jeep. The last I saw was the house he was in blowing up, taking out all the remaining Taliban with him."

"Really? Well, I guess he came through in the end. Better late than never." The younger man said back with a surprised expression, earning a nod from Porter, who was now the one looking concerned as he looked out in the direction of Afghanistan.

"Yeah, but none of it will mean anything if I don't get back home."

"We'll get you back home, John." Stonebridge replied with a reassuring tone, before their com-links activated.

"Bravo One and Two, this is Zero."

"We read you loud and clear, Zero." Stonebridge replied, recognising Richmond's voice over the com.

"Gentlemen, we are going to need you to make a run for the border right now." Colonel Grant then spoke, gaining surprised looks from both soldiers.

"Zero, are you sure about this?" the younger man then asked, before his new team-mate added his opinion.

"Yeah? You want us to make a daylight break for Afghanistan?"

That is correct, Bravo Two. We don't have the luxury of waiting for nightfall to get you back here, so you are to go now. Charlie team will be taking a helicopter to the following coordinates, which have been sent to your phone, Bravo One." The Section-20 leader added, making Michael take out his mobile and see the message appear on it's screen.

"Roger, Zero. Coordinates received." he replied, before handing the device to Porter and gesturing to the glovebox.

"John, there is a map in the glovebox. Would you...?" he then began to ask, only to be cut off by the older soldier.

"Of course, Mate." He said back before doing just that, while Michael returned his attention to his com-link.

"Zero, how does it look on the border right now?"

"The area of the border directly east of your position is free of any patrols at the moment. But our satellite has picked up one heading towards it from the south, so you should go right now if you want to pass without incident." Richmond then stated, earning a nod from Stonebridge as he activated the Jeep's engine and started driving the vehicle towards the Iranian/Afghan border. But this brought a concerned look to Porter's face as he turned his attention away from the map.

"Zero, what should we do if we do happen to come across this patrol?"

"Bravo, you are to do whatever is necessary to get to that extraction site. Is that clear?" Grant replied with a stoic tone.

"Crystal clear, Zero. We are on our way, Bravo One out." The driver answered back looking out at the horizon ahead as the desert started to pass them by, while his passenger looked back at the map.

"If I have this right, the EZ is just an hour away from the border, on the Afghan side." Porter said with a confident tone, earning a nod from Stonebridge in return as he glanced over at the location the former was pointing to.

"Good, because we are just 15 minutes away from the border. Let's hope we get there before that patrol does." The latter replied before putting his foot down on the accelerator, making their jeep speed across the desert with a dust trail in their wake.

Meanwhile, Grant, Sinclair and Richmond were watching the satellite's live-feed of the two soldiers jeep as it moved closer to the Iran/Afghan border.

"Keep a close eye on their path. If anything appears to be heading their way once they get over the border, I want you to let them know." the Colonel said, gaining a nod from Richmond.

"Yes, Ma'am." she replied before the screen suddenly shut down, earning shocked looks from everyone in the control-center.

"What just happened?" Grant then said, the confusion evident in her voice as she looked at the now black screen.

"We have lost the signal to our satellite." Richmond explained as she worked away at her station, earning a shocked look from the Colonel.

"Again!" she spat, before turning to the Major.

"Sinclair, go to the Base Commander and get us access to their receiver..." she started to say, gaining a nod from him as she turned to the Lieutenant.

"Brady, go with him."

"Yes, Ma'am." He replied before leaving with Sinclair, while Grant turned her attention back to Richmond.

"Notify Stonebridge and Porter that we are unable to help them, Sergeant." She ordered, gaining a nod from the younger woman as she began to use her console, only to stop and look back with confused expression.

"Colonel, something is wrong with our system..." she began to say back, making the older Woman's eyes to widen.

"What's wrong?!"

"Our comms are down. We are unable to contact Stonebridge and Porter." Julia answered with a concerned tone and look, gaining a look of realisation from Grant.

None of this is a coincidence."

**STRIKE BACK: RETRIBUTION**

Time was not an their side as Porter and Stonebridge raced across the Iranian desert, making a run for the border so that they could meet up with the chopper that Col. Grant had sent them, earning them freedom from those that were hunting them.

"We are approaching the border." The younger man stated as he kept his focus on maintaining the jeep's speed and direction, while the other Sergeant took out a pair of binoculars from the glovebox and started scanning the horizon ahead.

"So far so goo...oh shit!" he responded, earning a curious glance from Michael.

"Let me guess, we have company?"

"Yeah, one jeep with four soldiers and it is closing fast." John observed, before looking down at their vehicle's speedometer with a confused expression.

"Is that it? I thought you were flooring it." He said in concerned-amazement, which brought a steeled look from the driver.

"I am. But...this Jeep is old..." he started to say, before a slight smirk graced his lips.

"...if you think it would help, you are welcome to get out and push." He joked, while the other guy climbed into the back and readied his weapon.

"No, thanks. How long until we cross the border?" he asked while loading a new mag into his assault rifle.

"Two minutes..." Stonebridge replied, before noticing the other vehicle as it appeared on his side mirror.

"...but they will be on us before that."

"Then I guess we should improvise." Porter said back as he looked through Stonebridge's supply bag, bringing a thoughtful look to his face.

"You have some C-4 and a flashbang in here."

"What you're thinking, John?" the driver asked, as the other vehicle got a little closer.

"That we don't have time to waste on these guys." Porter replied as he started to tie he two items together with duct tape.

"Well, they're almost on us, Mate. So, I hope you are ready with whatever it is you've got planned." Stonebridge replied, earning a nod back from the other soldier, before he looked over at the incoming jeep with a curious expression.

"What do you think they've got under hood of that Jeep?"

"You can ask them in a second, if you want." The driver replied with tinge of sarcasm in his voice, before the Iranian's jeep got within 25 metres of their own.

It's occupants then started to shout and point their weapons at the pair, making Stonebridge look over his shoulder at Porter.

"What's that they're saying?" he asked, gaining a confused expression from the other.

"How should I know! I don't speak Persian...but perhaps, 'pull over'." He replied, earning a smirk from the driver.

"Smart-arse." He answered back, making John mirror the younger Man's smirk.

"Takes one to know one, Mate." he said, before pulling the pin from the C-4/Flashbang and throwing it in the direction of the Iranians.

The patrol was immediately alerted by this action and opened fire on the other jeep, making both British soldiers take cover the best they could as bullets impacted and ricocheted off the vehicle.

But then the device exploded, first with a blinding flash of white light, which was followed by an expanding fireball that made the Iranian driver pull the breaks instantly, stopping the patrol vehicle in it's tracks.

"Nice. They won't be able to catch up to us before we reach the border, John." Michael said back with a relieved tone as he glanced at the raising smoke behind them in his side mirror, while the older soldier climbed back into the passenger seat beside him.

"Thanks, Michael. Let's hope we can avoid any more trouble before meeting up with our ride home." He replied, before tapping his com-link.

"Zero, this is Bravo-Two..." he then started to say, while the pair continued closing in on the border before them.

**STRIKE BACK: RETRIBUTION**

Nearly an hour after crossing the border, Stonebridge brought his and Porter's jeep to a stop at the side of an Afghan road and looked over to his friend with a concerned expression.

"I don't like this." He said, earning a nod from John who's face mirrored his own.

"Yeah, me too, Mate."

"We are less than a mile from the coordinates that the Colonel gave us and..." Stonebridge began to say, only for Porter to cut him off.

"And we have been unable to contact her or anyone at the base. Yeah, the whole thing stinks." he added with a thoughtful look, while his younger friend turned to him.

"So, what should we do? I mean, I have and idea."

"If it's the same thing as I am thinking?" John replied with a curious tone, gaining a knowing look from Michael.

"We leave the jeep here and head in on foot." He said, making the older man smirk at him.

"Exactly, so let's go." he replied before climbing out of the jeep and picking up his weapons, with Michael doing the same.

"So..." Porter began to say as he joined his younger Comrade's side.

"...if Elanor handpicked you for Section-20, then that means you were in the SAS?" he then asked, making Stonebridge shake his head with a knowing smile.

"No, 'Desmond'. I was with the SBS." He replied with a joking tone, earning a mirrored look from the older man.

"Oh great, you're a 'Bubble head'. He said back, making both men chuckle.

"Ha ha. Okay, now that we have that out of the way..." Michael then began to say as, gaining a nod from John as he finished the other's sentence with a knowing smirk.

"...let's do this." He added with a confident tone, as they both left the jeep and began walking to the evac-site.

Meanwhile at the Crib, the atmosphere was frantic as everyone worked to get their communications back online. Grant stood over the operations-table, staring down at the map and various intel reports that lay on it with a stoic expression, not even noticing Maj. Sinclair joining her side.

"Colonel..." he began to say, snapping the Section-20 commander from her thoughts.

"...I spoke with the Base's commander about using their comms, but it appears that they have suffered a communications blackout as well, which also includes our phones." He continued, earning a knowing expression from the Colonel.

"Without our support, both Bravo and Charlie teams will be blind to any dangers that may be approaching or waiting for them." She replied, which made her second in command nod back with a similar look.

"After seeing our communication issue also affect this base as well, I share your earlier opinion that they are part of the same problem. And so does the base's Commander. In fact, he wants to start an investigation into those who have access to the areas in question." He said, which made Grant glance around the room at the others, before turning to him.

"I want you to work with him on this, but make sure to remain discreet. If this was sabotage, we don't want to alert the one(s) responsible that we are on to them."

"Agreed. So we are to investigate personal from both the base and those our's here in the Crib?" Sinclair asked, bringing a pained look to the Colonel's face.

"Yes, though I hate the idea that one of our own could have done this. Especially if it proves that our extensive vetting process on Section-20 personal has failed." She confessed, her body language showed her unease with the idea, earning an understanding look from the Major in return.

"Well, the Commander and I will begin ASAP, Colonel." He replied before leaving, while Eleanor turned her attention to Brady and Richmond, who were working away at the communication console and the large screen in front that showed nothing but static.

' _I hope that I am just being paranoid about this._ '

**STRIKE BACK: RETRIBUTION**

After fifteen minutes of trekking under the sweltering heat of the slowly descending sun as the late afternoon began to give way to the early evening, Porter and Stonebridge arrived at the evacuation site, which brought a surprised look to the former's face.

"It look's like a large crater!?"

"I'd say it's about 20 feet deep. That would make good cover if you wanted someone to wait for pickup without prying eyes noticing you." Michael replied, while the older man shrugged his shoulders in response.

"Ah, who cares. Let's just get down there, so we will be in position for our ride out of here..." he began to say, only to be cut short as a confused look appeared on his younger friend's face as he looked around them.

"Can you hear that?"

This gained a curious expression from Porter as he followed suit and listened for whatever Stonebridge could hear.

"...Yeah, I can..." he nodded, before his face turned more to a more concerned look.

"...though it doesn't sound like our ride." The older soldier added as he looked out at their surroundings, while Stonebridge began to squat as the sound got closer and louder.

"That's no chopper..." he started to say, before three jeeps suddenly appeared over the ridge on the other side of the crater.

"Get down!" Michael exclaimed as both he and John dropped onto their stomachs, taking them out of sight of the new arrivals, who continued down into the crater none the wiser.

"They're Taliban." Stonebridge then stated as he looked through his binoculars at the jeeps, watching as vehicles stopped at the bottom and their occupants climbed out with weapons ready.

"It can't be a coincidence that they appear here now, just as we are going to get picked up?" Porter replied with a concerned tone, before the other guy handed him the binoculars.

"You don't think the Americans pressured Section-20 for the coordinates, like they did previously?" Michael asked as the older man looked down at the enemy, making him shake his head in response.

"No. Eleanor...I mean, the Colonel wouldn't do that. She's made of steel that way." Porter replied with a knowing tone.

"Okay. But we need to do something about 'them', because the Chopper's going to be here in less than two minutes and will not see the trouble in this crater until they are already on top of it." Stonebridge said back as he gestured to his watch, earning a nod from the older man who cocked his weapon.

"Alright then, let's see what you can do, Michael."

The younger soldier smirked at that as he readied his own rifle, looking down it's sights at the Taliban below him, with Porter doing the same.

"Okay, I've got the one standing at the front of the vehicle on the far right..." he began to say, before taking a breath as he lined up his sights with his target's head, who was oblivious to what was about to happen.

The British soldier then pulled the trigger, firing the bullet which then went straight through the enemy's head and sprayed crimson blood over the face of the guy walking next to him, which was instantly followed by the accompanying sound of said shot. This alerted all the men standing in the depth of that crater as they hurried to take cover behind their vehicles.

"Take cover!" one of them shouted as Porter joined in and fired down at them with Stonebridge, hitting another who was to slow to react, hitting him square in the chest with three shots that stained his clothes with red as he fell to the ground.

The older soldier then noticed a large boulder that was positioned just aways from the pair on the slope of the crater, closer to the Taliban warriors and more protected then the pair's current location.

"Cover me!" he then shouted over the gunfire, earning a quick nod from Stonebridge in return as stopped for just a second.

"Go!" he exclaimed, with Porter leaping over the edge and sprinted down the slope for several metres, while his friend continued to fire down at the enemies, who were firing back up in return.

But due to their level of training, which was not on the same level as the two Special forces soldiers, mostly consisted of blind fire that hit the ground either side of John's feet as he then slid down the remaining metre to the boulder and started firing back.

"Coming to you!" Michael then shouted as he followed suit and ran down, while Porter killed another Afghan with a shot to the head as he covered his friend.

"Kill the Bastards!" another warrior cried out, while another knelt beside him and activated a radio device.

"We need reinforcements!"

This did not go unnoticed by the Brits as they continued their attack, before taking cover behind the boulder as the enemies fired on them altogether, with the bullets ricocheting off the rock in front of them.

"Changing!" John then exclaimed as he popped the empty mag out of his rifle and slammed another full one in, gaining a nod back from Michael as he picked out and took out another man with a shot through his neck, spraying blood over the vehicle he had taken cover behind.

"The Chopper should be here any moment." The younger man then added, as Porter returned fire at the Taliban.

"I hope so, because it looks like we might be getting overrun, Mate." He observed.

"Yeah, John. I saw that too. .." Stonebridge replied, before noting that he fired his last round.

"...changing." he added, gaining a nod from his older friend as he kept firing on the enemy, seeing that only a few men were left.

"So let's charge at then and take their position. Since their vehicles ae parked that way..." Porter continued as Stonebridge observed that the Taliban were stationed in a triangular formation, with the warriors taking cover in the middle.

"...it is a more defendable position than up here."

"Agreed..." the younger man replied as he armed a smoke grenade and tossed it over the boulder between them and the enemies.

"...but we shouldn't make it easy for them, even if they aren't very good shots." he added as the device exploded, covering the immediate area inn a grey smoke.

"Right, move!" John exclaimed as the pair left the safety of the boulder and bolted for the Taliban's position, while the latter group stood up and looked at the cloud of smoke with confused expressions.

"Where are they?" one asked, gaining an angry look from another who aimed his AK at it.

"Who cares, just shoot!" he shouted in their native tongue, before he and the remaining fighters opened fire into the cloud, cutting through the smoke with a barrage of bullets.

"We must be hitting them!?" another warrior questioned, before the men's eyes widened as they saw both Porter and Stonebridge appear before them with the smoke dissipating around them.

"Kill them!" the lead warrior cried out, but before the group could open fire, both Brits opened fire on them first with efficient and accurate shots, killing two of the Taliban instantly as the others panicked.

"Shit!" another exclaimed, only to be knocked onto his back from a shot directly into his chest, gaining a painful gasp from him as he started to die.

Those who remained opened fire again, but due to their fear and shock, their accuracy was zero as every bullet missed the British soldiers, who continued to systematically take them down one after another until they were the only ones left standing, with the Taliban lying dead at their feet.

"You okay, Mate?" Porter asked as he reloaded his rifle once more, earning a nod from Stonebridge in return as he checked the bodies to be sure they were dead.

"Yeah, John. The area is secured."

"It is...for now." The older soldier said back, just before a truck appeared at the top of the crater, gaining the two guys attention.

"Incoming!" Porter shouted as both soldiers quickly took cover behind the jeeps, while several more Taliban exited the vehicle and opened fire on them.

John and Michael quickly returned fire, killing two of the new arrivals in quick succession. Their bodies began to roll down the crater's slope, leaving blood trails on the ground behind them as the battle was renewed.

It was then that the younger Brit noticed one of the Taliban take a weapon out the back of the truck, making his eyes widen in shock.

"RPG!" he exclaimed loudly, making his older comrade mirror his expression as the enemy aimed the destructive weapon at their position.

' _That's it then..._ ' Porter started think as his immediate death began to dawn on him, making him take a deep breath as he continued to fight back, with Stonebridge doing the same.

But suddenly the Taliban's truck exploded, sending the nearby enemies flying as fire and smoke rose up from it's now burning husk.

"What the...?" John began to ask, only to be cut off as a green Twin Huey helicopter flee through the billowing smoke towards them.

"It's Charlie team!" Michael replied with relief in his voice, which was then echoed in the former's expression as the end was now in sight.

"Great, so let's take care of these guys and get out of here." He said back, noticing that a few of the Taliban warriors were getting back to their feet. So both men opened fire on them and knocked them all back to the ground, like dominoes.

Then as the two soldiers got out of their cover, the chopper circled the area one more time, ensuring that the area was fully secured before entering the crater's center and descending.

"We almost home free, John." Michael stated with a smile, gaining a smirk back from the older man as he looked up at the Huey.

"Who did the Colonel send out to get us?" he wondered out loud, but he did not have to wait long for the answer as the chopper landed just aways and opened it side-door, bringing a big smile to the older soldier's face since Layla and Danni were seated in the vehicle, beckoning the pair to join them.

"Let's go! There are more on the way." The former shouted, making both men run towards them, while the latter just gave John a caring smile as she looked up on him.

'Danni...' he began to think as his heart warmed, because in this moment he could finally see something over the horizon that did not include bleeding out in this endless desert wasteland.

After what happened in Iraq all those years ago, Porter had long felt like he was lost at sea. Lost in the guilt and despair of those events and the lies that Collinson had fabricated, pointing him as the reason why his friends were dead and losing the respect of his family.

But then the former SAS soldier was given a second chance with Section 20, which helped him get his life back together and Danni was a big part of that.

Yes, she had been ordered to sleep with him to improve his self-esteem, but the pair had become very close in the months since and now here she was now, to get him out of danger like an Angel lifting him out of hell.

As he smiled back at her while approaching the chopper, time felt like it had stopped as he sighed.

'. _..it's over._ '

But suddenly he was snapped out of his moment as Stonebridge hit his shoulder.

"LOOK OUT!" he exclaimed in horror, pointing towards the burning truck at the top of the ridge as John's eyes focused over there and saw that one of the Talian warriors was not dead and instead was aiming the RPG at the chopper.

' _Layla...Danni!_ ' Porter thought as he snapped his attention back to the chopper, his gaze meeting the latter's.

"NO!" the soldier cried out, as he began to sprint towards the vehicle. But then the RPG was fired and it's projectile cut through the air and impacted the Huey's side, engulfing it and it's crew in a fireball that knocked both Porter and Stonebridge onto their backs as bits of it flew past the pair.

Everything suddenly felt like a daze to the older soldier and the sound of the explosion buzzed between his ears, disorientating him as he tried to recover.

But as he rolled over onto his front and pushed himself onto his knees, the man's eyes came upon the now burning wreckage of the Huey. This picture made Porter's blood boil as he remembered the guy who the trigger and turned to see the guy reloading the RPG.

"You Bastard!" he raged while opening fire with his rifle, turning the Taliban into the human equivalent of Swiss cheese with a barrage of bullets.

But then as the enemy's blooded corpse fell to the ground, John turned his attention back to the burning husk. He breathed heavily as he felt his despair climbing it's way out of the pit of his core, making him fall to his knees as stonebridge slowly got back to his feet.

The latter looked at the fire with a pained expression, before looking to the ground as he silently mourned his fallen comrades.

But John kept his eyes focused on the charred carcass of the Huey, knowing that both his friend and his lover were lying dead in it's burning remains. This made him grit his teeth and tighten his grip on the rifle in his hands as his own blood began to boil with anger.

Sharq and the Taliban had just made this personal.

**A/N: Well I hope you enjoyed this Chapter and I want to thank you for reading it, since it is greatly appreciated. :)**

**Next Chapter: With his lover and another friend dead, Porter goes for all out war against Sharq and his forces. But where does Stonebridge stand on the matter? Will he drag his new friend back to Section 20 or follow him in pursuit of his vengeance?**


	5. Chapter 5

 

It had suddenly become deathly quiet as John, at least to him, stood and looked on at the wreckage of the Huey. The only sound came from the fire as it danced throughout the charred husk of the downed vehicle, with it's crackles, spurts and pops while black smoke billowed up into the clear blue sky.

Stonebridge stood just behind the older man, his head held low as he showed respect to his fallen comrades, though he barely knew them. But despite that fact, they had risked their lives to come out into the lawless wilderness of this country to help him get Porter home.

Of course both Danni and Layla had stronger ties to John, the former even more so. But it does not matter since soldiers are in this together, whether they are friends or complete strangers, because it is only together that they can succeed.

The younger man then found himself looking back at the burning metal hulk, noting how high the smoke was getting before looking at the pair's surroundings.

' _We should get going._ ' Michael thought as he took some steps toward Porter and placed his hand on the other's shoulder, which did not even make the latter flinch in return.

"John, I'm so sorry. But we need to move, since there will obviously be more Taliban coming to check this area out..." he started to say, only for the other Sergeant to keep staring at the fire.

"...so we should get back to our jeep and head in the direction of our army base."

Suddenly Porter looked over his shoulder at Stonebridge with a dagger-like stare, as if that last sentence had struck a nerve inside him.

"No! I am not going back to the base..." John began to say, his building anger underlining his words as he spoke.

"...I am going to make sure Zahir Sharq pays for what his men did to Layla and...Danni." he added, with his voice breaking a little with his mentioning of Danni, gaining an understanding yet stoic look from Stonebridge in return.

"And he will, John, I promise. And I'll help you see to it. But right now, I have my orders...and that is what I am going to do." The former Commando replied, the finality of his words evident in how he stared back at the older soldier, who noticed that the former's hand was slowly moving for the pistol he had holstered on his utility belt.

"You seem like a good man, Michael, and a good soldier. But you're going to have to shoot me, before I go back with you." He replied with a respectful tone, which too had the finality of a threat to it.

Both men then stared at each other for what felt like a long moment, while fire and smoke continued to rise from the helicopter next to them. But then in the blink of an eye, both men drew their weapons on each other, staring at the other down the sights of their weapons.

"I get it, Michael. This is your first mission for the Colonel and you want get it done, but I have done this a little while longer than you and I learnt that you have to be ready to improvise, because these missions rarely go according to plan." The older soldier added, earning an annoyed expression back from his comrade.

"No need to patronise me, John. Of course, I know that a mission can go to shit just like this one. But you want to go full revenge against a man and his private army with just the two of us, which sounds suicidal to me." Stonebridge replied with a sceptical tone.

"Except that there is more to it than that. Yes, I want to kill Sharq for what happened to Danni and Layla, I'm not going to deny it. But he is trying to take control of Afghanistan and something tells me that is going to be a terrible thing for this country. Also, his compund is closer to us than our own and we can use it's radio to contact the Crib, since our own does not work. And better yet, I know the layout of his base and exactly where it is."

"So, we're not going in half-arsed then?" the former SBS soldier said back with a sigh, making John nod back.

"Of course not. And I know that it has a better chance of succeeding if we work together, because the one thing I have learnt from working at Section-20 is the need to improvise since losing contact with whoever's in charge is a given. So..." he began to say as he lowered his weapon, which Stonebridge mirrored.

"...are you going to have my back with this?"

This brought a thoughtful look to the younger man's face as he looked at their surroundings, before returning his attention back to Porter.

"Okay, so what's your plan?" he replied while holstering his weapon, while John activated his gun's safety and did the same.

"Well..." the older man started to say, before pointing at the Taliban jeep at the top of the crater.

"...we should take that jeep and it's equipment, as well as their turbans and balaclavas." He answered, earning a smirk from Stonebridge.

"I get it. This will be sort of like the 'Trojan Horse'." The younger man guessed, making Porter nod back.

"Something like that, so let's go visit Sharqistan."

**STRIKE BACK: RETRIBUTION**

Meanwhile back in the Crib, Col. Grant sat at the desk in her office as she looked at a report that lay open before her. She had an aggravated expression her face as she read it's pages, trying to focus on it's details but finding her attention going back to her Section's current problem.

' _I don't have time to focus on this..._ ' the Colonel thought as she quickly closed he report's folder and turned her gaze back into the Crib's command center.

'...n _ot when I currently have no idea what is happening with my people outside of this base._ '

And it was in this moment that Sgt. Richmond appeared at the door and knocked on it's frame.

"Colonel." She said, gaining the older woman's attention.

"Yes, Sergeant?" Grant replied with a stoic expression, though behind it was a slither of hope for good news.

"Since we have been unable to use our communications to contact Bravo team or anyone else..." she began to say, while walking up to the Colonel's desk.

"... I have instead been talking with this Base's local contacts, finding out what they know about the area where Bravo Team is to be extracted. Here is everything that I have learnt." The Sergeant carried on as she placed a report on the Colonel's desk, with the latter immediately opening it and reading it.

"This isn't much more than what we already knew before." Grant then said as she looked through the report, gaining a slight nod back from Julia as she stood in front of the former's desk.

"I know, Ma'am, and I apologise for that. I was hoping for more." The younger woman replied with a disappointed tone, which made Eleanor look up at her.

"You have nothing to apologise for, Richmond. With our Comms currently down, I'll take whatever Intel I can if it helps get our soldiers home."

"Yes, Ma'am." She replied, before Sinclair appeared at her doorway with a concerned expression on his face.

"Major?" Grant than said with a questioning tone, having noticed his appearance as Richmond looked back over her shoulder at him.

"Colonel, we have lost track of the helicopter's GPS signal." The SEC replied, gaining mirrored looks from both women.

"Where was it last?" Richmond asked, beating her commanding officer to the question as Sinclair entered the room.

"We lost the signal at the extraction coordinates, though this can mean one of two possibilities. Either the it's GPS malfunctioned or..."

"Or it was brought down." Grant then said, finishing the Major's sentence and gaining a solemn nod from him.

"Yes, Ma'am."

"But without our Communications or our Satellite feed, we cannot confirm what happened to them." Julia added, which brought a knowing expression to Sinclair's face.

"Colonel, I suggest that we send another chopper to those coordinates, so that we can determine what happened there."

This brought a thoughtful look to Eleanor Grant's face as she mulled over that idea, whilst both Richmond and Sinclair waited.

"We would be risking the lives of another chopper crew. How do you plan to explain that to this Base's Commander, Major?" she then asked with a 'matter of fact' tone.

"I'll come up with something, Ma'am. After all, we need Porter and the information he has."

"Then I will be the one to speak with him. It should be me, as I am Section 20's commanding officer." the Colonel replied, gaining a nod from Sinclair in return.

"Very well, Ma'am."

It was at that moment, that Lt. Brady appeared at the doorway.

"Colonel, may I come in?" he asked with a worried expression, earning concerned looks from everyone there.

"Of course, Lieutenant. What is it?" Grant replied with a gesture, to which the young man entered her office and joined the others.

"I have gone over our communications equipment and those of the Base with their technicians, but they appear to be functioning properly." He said with a mixture of confusion and concern to his voice.

"And yet we cannot receive or send transmissions of any kind." The Colonel replied, while a thoughtful expression appeared on Richmond's face.

"If there isn't a problem with our hardware and software, perhaps we should be looking for something that does not belong here." She added, earning curious looks from the others.

"Sergeant, care to elaborate?" Grant replied.

"If the entire base is experiencing a communications blackout and yet the hardware is functioning perfectly, then that would suggest that there is a device somewhere on this base that is emitting a frequency that is scrambling all comm signals entering and leaving the base."

"If there was a signal scrambler here, then surely we would have found it while examining the Comms Hub." Brady said, making the Sergeant shake her head in return.

"Not necessarily, since such a device could be placed anywhere on the base and still have the desired effect."

This brought an impressed smirk to Colonel Grant's face as she looked first at Richmond and then at Sinclair.

"I think we have just found our Chief Communications Officer, Major." She said, to which Sinclair nodded back.

"Indeed, Colonel."

"Thank you, Ma'am." Richmond replied with an appreciative smile while remaining professional, but this gained an annoyed look from Brady, who quickly hid his dismay as Grant turned her attention to him.

"Lieutenant, assist the Sergeant on this." The section 20 leader ordered, making the young man nod back.

"Yes, Ma'am." He replied, before she returned her gaze back to Richmond.

"Sergeant, I'm sure you have figured out that we have a traitor among us." Eleanor then said, earning a nod from Julia.

"It makes sense, considering how our Comms have been disrupted despite them functioning properly."

"Well, we can't afford for whoever it is to find out that we are on to them, so we have to keep it between the four of us." Sinclair added.

"Okay, Sir. We will get started then." The Sergeant replied, gaining a nod from Brady before the pair then left the room, leaving the Colonel and Major alone as the latter turned back to his superior.

"I think it is safe to assume that the saboteur is not someone stationed at this base, since that would indicate he knew everything about what we were doing." He then said, earning a nod from Grant inn return.

"I agree. But we still shouldn't inform the Base's Commander, because he will want to lockdown the base and that would surely tip off the saboteur that we are on to them..." she started to reply as she stood up.

"... anyway, I should go and make sure we can get that second helicopter. You're in command until I return." She added while walking past the Major.

"Yes, Ma'am."

**STRIKE BACK: RETRIBUTION**

_Somewhere on the Afghan/Pakistan border_

Meanwhile at his compound, Sharq sat at the desk in his office and sighed as he looked out of the window, looking down at his men working in the courtyard. They were just offloading the newest cache of weapons that Zahir had obtained from the Americans through his arrangement with Frank Arlington.

' _More weapons for the glory of our cause._ ' He thought with a smirk, though it did not last long as it was replaced with a more serious expression.

' _Though, it would have been more had we eliminated Porter as well and not just Baxter and Collinson._ '

The Afghan Politician then looked at his watch.

' _The group I sent out should have returned by now. Could they have failed too? Arlington will not like that if it were true and it could harm the success of any future dealings I have with the American._ ' he continued, before his attention was caught by the sound of an incoming transmission on his computer.

' _Speak of the devil._ '

Sharq then sat down at his desk and tapped a single key on the console's keyboard, which made the US's Liaison's face appear on his monitor.

"Mr. Sharq, Good Afternoon." The latter said with a stoic smirk, gaining a cold expressionless one back from Zahir.

"Mr. Arlington."

"Please, call me Frank. I'm just calling to get an update on our 'little' problem. Has it been dealt with?" the American asked with a friendly tone.

My men have not yet returned from the ambush. So, I am still waiting for confirmation." Sharq replied in a straightforward tone, which made Arlington's smile shrink.

"Tell me, Mr. Sharq..." he began too say, breaking eye contact as the Liaison looked away for a moment.

"...do you like the new toys the US has given you?"

"Yes, of course, Mr. Arlington, along with the Intelligence." Sharq then answered, bringing the other guy's attention back to him.

"Call me Frank." he replied, bringing a confused look to the Afghan's expression.

"... Frank." Zahir repeated back, making Arlington smirk back in return.

"I am glad you do. And I am happy to keep supplying you with more. And you'll get more, especially once my Administration gets fully behind our idea of you and your shadow-Government running Afghanistan. I already told you that they are keen to progress our relationship, but for them to be one hundred percent with us, ' _I_ ' need one final loose end to be tied up." he replied, gaining a knowing nod from the other guy.

"Porter. Unfortunately, he is proving to be rather difficult to kill. That should be something you are already aware of, considering that your own `Delta Force` failed to stop him in Iran." Sharq replied, which brought a pained expression to Arlington's face, though he tried to hide it behind a stoic appearance as he nodded back.

"Yes, that's true. But this time, I gave you the exact coordinates of Porter's extraction in Afghanistan and yet I have not heard of your success."

"As I was trying to tell you before, Frank..." the Afghan Politician began to say with a mirrored look, trying to hide his annoyance.

"...I am still waiting to hear from the Taliban who were sent after Porter, in fact..." he began to add, only to be cut off as shouting could be heard outside.

"The Taliban are here!" one of his men shouted in native arabic, making Sharq break eye contact with the US Liaison as he looked out of the window.

"What is it?"

"It appears that they have returned. I will call you back as soon as I have debriefed..." Zahir started to say, only for Frank to cut him off mid-sentence.

"No, leave me on. I want to be here for this." he replied, earning a nod from his associate in return.

"Very well, I will return shortly." the Afghan said back before leaving the office, leaving Arlington waiting as he sighed on the other man`s computer monitor.

Meanwhile outside of the Compound, two balaclavaed men in afghan clothing sat in a jeep (one in the driver's seat and one in the back) just in front of it's main entrance, that was a large open archway, and was being guarded by two soldiers on the ground and four on top of the large wall perimeter wall over it.

"That`s the two of us against the six of them, and that's not counting how many more are behind those walls." Stonebridge whispered to his friend in the driver's seat, who nodded back.

"Nice to know you can count, Bubble-head . Shouldn't be a problem once we are inside." Porter replied with a jokingly confident tone, gaining an unsure from his younger friend, though you could not see it from behind his balaclava.

"Good to know that your confident in this ' _Trojan Horse_ ' plan."

"About time you guys came back. I will just confer with the boss." one of the guards standing before them shouted back in arabic before walking back into the compound, making Porter ackowledge with a wave while the other soldiers kept their focus on them.

"Of course. Though, this plan would be better if one of us could...you know, speak the language." Michael added with a slight undertone of sarcasm to his voice, gaining a sigh from his older comrade.

"What can I say, languages were never my strong suit."

"So, you were here before, right?" the younger man then asked, never taking his eyes of the guards.

"That's right. You see that structual damage on the archway, that was curtesy of Gerry Baxter's hand-grenade."

"Nice, so our ' _little surprise_ ' here should finish the job." Michael added with a little gesture to what was lying beside him in the back of the jeep.

"Yeah, that's plan B, should our first plan fail." the older man replied, earning a knowing look from the other soldier from behind his balaclava.

"You mean, if they don't let us in."

Inside the Compound's walls, Sharq walked out of his office and met with the soldier from the gate.

"How many are there?" the Politician asked with a calm and yet intimidating tone, making the guard look visibly uncomfortable as he stood opposite him.

"There are only two at the front, Sir." he answered, making Zahir look past the man and towards the entrance with a frustrated expression .

"Only two? The Taliban sent out several men to ambush the British Swine..." he began to say, only to stop and look around the Compound.

' _I guess that will cost me some of the Taliban's support...but only if they find out._ ' He then thought, before turning back to the soldier with a stoic look on his face.

"Ask them if the British are dead. Once they answer, kill them and dispose of the bodies."

"At once, Sir." The other man replied before heading back to the Compound entrance, while Sharq stood there and watched.

' _As long as Porter and his comrade are dead, then a group of dead Taliban will be one less thing to worry about._ '

Back at the archway of the Compound's, Porter and Stonebridge were still seated in their jeep with Sharq's men staring back at them, guns ready.

"Look's like that guy is coming back." the latter said as he looked over his friend's shoulder toward the entrance, gaining a nod back from the former as he noticed it too.

"Yeah, but something's not right..." he replied with only the slightest tinge of worry to his voice as the guard silently gestured to his comrades, who began to hold their weapons more readily.

"...look's like plan A is a bust, Michael. Better get ready." the older Brit added, gaining a subtle nod back from his comrade. The guard then started to approach the jeep as Michael slowly reached down to an object laying beside him.

"Ready when you are, Mate."

"Did you kill the British Pigs?" he asked in his native tongue, making Porter and Stonebridge glance at each other knowingly before the former then returned his attention to the guard and acknowledge him with a nod of his head, all the while turning off the safety on his assault rifle on his lap.

"Very good..." the guard then replied, before looking over his shoulder to his fellow soldiers.

"...kill them!"

The guards on the ground and the top of the wall then began to raise their weapons, but Stonebridge suddenly pulled up an RPG from behind Porter and fired it at the archway, blowing it apart and throwing the enemies there into the air.

The older Brit meanwhile, opened fire with his assault rifle and killed the two guards on the ground as Michael equipped his own rifle and jumped out of the back of the jeep and pumped the enemies now lying on the ground with a few bullets.

"They won't be getting back up." he stated as Porter joined his side.

"There'll be more inside, Stonebridge. Let's get moving." he replied, while the sounds of soldiers rushing around could be heard inside the Compound grounds.

Inside the grounds, Zahir had heard the gunfire and explosion and was rushing back to his office while shouting at the remaining guards.

"Get out there and kill the Bastards!" the Afghan politician ordered his men as they made their way past him, before one guard pointed towards the entrance as he spotted to the two British soldiers enter. This made Sharq look over and grit his teeth as he laid eyes on the pair.

"Kill them now!" he spat before running inside, while the guards opened fire as they took cover behind the various crates and vehicles that were in the courtyard. Porter and Stonebridge followed suit as they took cover behind the charred wreckage of some large oil-drums as the bullets were fired from one side of the courtyard to another.

"Nice to see that they haven't cleared this mess up yet." the former said as he fired back at one of the soldiers, making them duck behind their cover.

"This was your handywork too? Nice." the younger man replied while mirroring his new friend, before shooting another one of the guards in the head.

"How many more can you see, Michael...?" John then asked while taking down one of the remaining guards, with two bullets to his chest, right through his armored vest.

"...because I can see four on my side." he added while killing one more guard, as the other guy took down one on his side with another headshot.

"I've got three left on mine." Michael replied, earning a smirk from his comrade who fired back at the enemy, making them take cover once more and buy another quick moment of silence.

"Reloading. And good kill."

"Got you covered...and thanks." Stonebridge said back with a smirk as he looked down the ironsights of his rifle, before another enemy peeked out from behind a vehicle ahead of them.

' _Mistake made._ ' he thought, before pulling the trigger and blowing the back of bad guy's head open with his shot and spraying it over the ground behind him.

"We can't waste anymore time on these guys." Porter then said as he finished reolading his rifle and returned fire at the opposition, gaining a nod from the younger soldier.

"Agreed. They're getting panicky..." he observed as the other soldiers began to fire blindly at the intruders, while their dead comrades lay either side of them.

"... so let's herd them toward that fuel-truck just to their left, because I've got another surprise for them." he added, making the rogue Brit look in that direction and smirk.

"a grenade?" Porter asked before firing a few bullets at the some crates that the enemy were taking cover behind, with their impacts making the men stay low, as Michael smirked back.

"Yes, Mate."

"Well, that truck wasn't here before. But what the hell, let's do it." the older man then added, before the pair both stood up and opened fire on the enemy soldiers.

Meanwhile in Sharq's office, the Afghan politician rushed back in and took a handgun out of a small bo that was lying on his desk, while Arlington's face stared back with confussion from his laptop's screen.

"What's going on? Why can I hear gunfire?" the American asked with an impaitient tone, bringing the other's attention to him as he loaded his weapon.

"Porter and the other British agent are attacking my compound, but my men are dealing with them." Zahir replied with a somewhat unsure tone, which brought a knowing look to the US Liaison's face.

"This isn't looking good for you, Zahir..." he began to reply, only to be cut off by the thunderous sound of an explosion outside, making the foundations of the room shudder before it suddenly went deathly quiet. This made the now panicky-looking Afghan take cover behind his desk and aim his weapon at the doorway to his office, waiting for his adversary to make an appearance.

"What the hell was that, Zahir?" Frank then asked, but the other guy simply kept his attention on the doorway.

"SHARQ!" the caller shouted furiously, bringing the politician's attention back to him for just a moment, before another familar voice spoke up, making him look back to find Porter standing in the doorway with his rifle aimed at him.

"Hold it right there, Sharq..." the British soldier began to warn with a look of steel to his face, slowly entering the room with his finger firmly wrapped around the trigger of his weapon.

"...,or I'll send you to hell a little early."

This brought a smug look to Zahir's face as he kept his gun aimed at back at Porter.

"Go ahead, Porter. I do not fear death. I have a belief system after all, remember?" he replied with a calmly defiant tone, never taking his eyes away from his adversary. All the while, Arlington watched silently from the laptop.

"I do, but I think you're full of shit, Sharq. All your men are dead and you've got your back to the wall, so I don't doubt that you will want to make a deal." Porter explained with a knowing smirk, which made the Afghan Politician glance, ever so slightly, down at the laptop screen and see the American staring back with a ' _don't you dare_ ' look.

So Zahir sighed and looked up at John with a thoughtful expression as the finality of his situation dawned on him, before then resolving himself to his fate and kept his gun aimed at the British soldier.

"How do you infidels say it, Porter,...go fuck yourself." he started to reply, with his expression becoming defiant-looking once more as he began to pull the trigger. But suddenly, another gun was fired, making Sharq fall to his knees as he took a bullet in his arm. The Afghan fell to his knees and clutched his arm while looking to the direction where the gunshot came from, seeing Stonebridge standing at the otherside of the window with his own weapon aimed at him.

"Do yourself a favour and stay down." the other Brit stated, while Porter walked up to Sharq and equipped his pistol and pointed down at the kneeling politician.

"You had my friends killed, Sharq. Gerald Baxter, Layla Thompson...Danni Brendville..." he began to explain, with that last name underlined by a sombre tone to his voice while Michael watched from his spot outside. But Zahir looked up at Porter with a pained, but still rebellous expression.

"...you should die for that."

"Then kill me. Because you might blame me for their deaths, but  _'Josef'_  chose his end when he decided to help you. And the  _'other_ two'...well, their deaths are on you as well. So if you're going to blame anyone for those who die around you, then just look in a mirror, you bastard."the Afghan goaded back with a knowing tone and smirk.

This made John's blood boil as he then pushed the barrel of the gun right onto Sharq's forehead, his grip around the weapon's handle tightened and he gritted his teeth while staring daggers down at his defeated opponent.

' _I should kill him. He killed Baxter, stopping him from being with his family again. Layla and...Danni are dead because of him. I don't know if Danni and I could have had a future together, but now I will never know._ ' the older Brit began to think as he saw red, feeling his trigger finger become itchy as he began to pull back on it.

 _'All it would take is to pull the trigger one more millimetre, and the world would be rid of one more monster._ ' he continued, while Stonebridge continued to watch in silence as he hoped his new friend would make the right choice.

But as the moment between the three men seemed to continue for what felt like an age, Porter remembered something that Gerald Baxter had told him before he died.

' _Don't be like me. Don't let your past destroy you, it's not worth it._ '

Porter then sighed and took a breath as a calmness came over him, making him lower the pistol and stare down at his enemy with a look of clarity.

"No, Sharq, you don't get to be a martyr. You will pay for your crimes and give us Intel on your American partner..." he began to reply, only to look over at Stonebridge with a now confused expression.

"...what's his name?"

"Frank Arlington, Mate." The younger man said back through the open window, earning a 'come in' gesture from John as the latter returnee his attention to their prisoner.

"Yeah, Frank Arlington. That's the guy." He continued, while Sharq simply looked up at him with a pained and angry stare as he held his bloody arm.

"You will get nothing from m..." the Afghan began to say, only to be cut off by Porter's fist as the latter knocked him out just as Stonebridge entered the room.

"Said the wrong thing, did he?" the younger man asked, having noticed the now unconscious Sharq lying on the floor next to his friend.

"Yep..." Porter started to answer back, only to be cut off as he caught some movement in the bottom right of his vision. So he looked down at the Afghan's desk and saw the very American's face on the laptop screen.

"Hey, Michael, look at what we have here." the older soldier then said, making his comrade join his side and look down at the same screen.

"Well, I guess that this is Mr. Arlington." he replied with a confident tone, gaining a nod from John while the American stared back at them with loathing.

"It's nice to put a face to the name. Now I just need to find you and put a bullet between your eyes." Porter then said as he held his handgun up for Arlington to see, only for the latter to smirk back mockingly before tapping a button on his keyboard and ending the transmission.

"Was it something you said?" Stonebridge remarked with a humorous tone, earning a slight smile and shoulder shrug from his comrade. But then Porter looked back down at the computer screen and with the tranmission ended, he could see a number of folder icons on the desktop.

"These look interesting, don't you think?" he asked his friend while looking at their names, with the latter glancing over his shoulder down at the screen.

"More Intel would be good for Section-20, Mate. But we need to get it back to the Crib..." he replied, before noticing a radio sitting on a small shelf under the window.

"...and I think that is Sharq's radio." the younger man added before walking up to the device and activating it, picking up it's receiver as Porter folded up the laptop and joined his side.

"Think we can contact the Crib with that?" the latter asked, earning a shrug from Stonebridge.

"It doesn't matter, since I am going to contact someone else. Because when our evac plan failed, I bet the Colonel would have sent out another Chopper. So I will set this radio to the frequency we use..." Michael then began to explain as he turned the radio's freqeunies dial, before stopping and looking over at John.

"...by the way, that must have been a hard choice for you to make..." he continued to say with a thoughtful tone, making the other soldier look back at the unconsious Sharq just behind them.

"...sparing the life of the guy that ordered the deaths of your friends. If anything happened to Kerry, I don't know how I would handle it." he confessed, which made Porter return his attention to him place a hand on his friend's shoulder and give him a comforting look.

"I hope you never have to find out, Michael. And yes, it was one of the hardest choices I have ever made. But in the end, I am a soldier first and Sharq is more useful to us alive then dead... at least for now." he replied, gaining a nod from the younger man.

"Okay. Anyway, let's see who's out there." Stonebridge replied, before tapping the broadcast button on the receiver while Porter stood and watched.

**STRIKE BACK: RETRIBUTION**

_Kuala Lumpar, Malaysia_

On a busy street corner somewhere in the city, a caucasian man with short blonde hair in civilian clothing stood under the dim light of a failing street lamp as he looked around at his surroundings. There were numerous people walking past from both directions, including residents, tourists and a few hookers.

But as this man watched those around him inconspicuously, his attention was caught by his phone vibrating in his inner jacket pocket, so he took it out and answered it.

"Marcus Howser." he answered, before a familar voice spoke back.

"Mr. Houser, I hope your team is in position, because I'd heard that you're in Malaysia, which is not where your team is supposed to be." the voice replied with a slither of panic to his voice, earning an eye roll from the man.

"No need to worry, Mr. Arlington. After all, ' _Trojan Inc._ ' is a PMC that honors it's contracts. I have already sent a team to Afghanistan as you ordered and I will be back to personally watch over you, once I have what I need from here." Howser replied with a confident and knowing tone.

"That's good to know, but what are you looking for in Malaysia?" the US Liaison questioned, while Marcus continued to look at every person that appeared in the area.

"Not what, who?" the Trojan Merc replied.

"Okay, then who are you looking for?"

"This 'John Porter' that you want us to kill. From what you have told me, he has been quite difficult to take out up until now. Well, I know ' _a person'_ who could make this action much easier to accomplish, because ' _he_ ' knows Porter better than any of us..." Marcus began to explain, only to stop as he spotted a familiar man walking down the other side of the street with a young woman.

"...I'll have to get back to you, Mr. Arlington, because I have found who I'm looking for." he continued, before ending the call and smirking as he saw the couple enter a building opposite him.

' _It's been a while...'Damien Scott._ '

****A/N: Well I hope you enjoyed Chapter Five and I want to thank you for reading it, since it is greatly appreciated. :)** **

****Next Chapter: While Marcus Howser meets an old Acquaintance, Porter and Stonebridge reunite with Section-20. But this moment of respite will not last long.** **


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

 

Howser waited for a moment before following his American target into the building, making sure not to be distracted by the scantily clad ladies that were standing on the street corners, illuminated by the red and pink glow of the street lights.

_'You really let yourself sink low, Damien._ ' He thought as he crossed the street and entered the building, only to be welcomed by the same sight inside.

The Mercenary found himself bathed in red light as numerous women stood by the walls in alluring poses, dressed in outfits that left little to the imagination, whose eyes turned to the new arrival and looked at him with what could only be described as hunger.

_'I was wrong. This is just his kind of place._ ' The American thought as he started to walk through the corridor, doing his best to ignore the moans and cries of pleasure echoing from it's closed doors.

"Hello." One of the women said, earning a dismissive nod from him in return.

"Hi." He politely replied whilst trying to walk past, only for her to stop him in his tracks as she walked in front of his path.

"Oh, you American. I show you a good time." She replied in basic English, making him shake his head as he showed her his ring finger.

"I bet you could, but I am already taken." Marcus said back, gaining a puzzled look from the prostitute in return as she looked over his shoulders.

"She not here. Just us."

But Howser was not going go be slowed down any further as he pulled a photo from his jacket pocket and showed it to her.

"I am looking for this man. Where can I find him?" He asked in a matter-of-fact tone, making her smile as she recognised the picture.

"Oh, that Scott. He upstairs." She answered, earning an appreciative smile back from the American.

"Thanks." He replied before walking past, getting to the stairs with no further problem as the woman's friends could tell he was not interested in them.

Once on the 1st floor, Howser did not need to search long to find his target as he recognised the other's voice coming from the door nearest to him.

"Oh yeah, Baby. That's it." He heard before the combination of moans and furniture being knocked against the wall could be heard.

_'Same old Damien._ ' Marcus thought before knocking the door, causing the sound of a stumble to be heard on the other side.

"Aw shit! Wait there. I'll see who it is." A male voice could be heard saying, before the door then opened and Marcus was greeted by the image of a Caucasian man wearing nothing but a towel.

"Howser?!" He exclaimed with a puzzled expression, earning a knowing smirk from the Mercenary.

"Hi, Scotty." He replied, while Damien continued to look at him confused.

"Fuck me! What the are you doing here?"

"That's no way to welcome an old friend..." Howser said back, feigning hurt feelings while still smirking back at the other American.

"...so, you're going to let me in, right?" He then asked, bringing a serious look to Scott's face all of a sudden.

"I don't know. You never answered my question. Do I need to say it again?" he replied with a sting to his words, making his friend sigh in return.

"You're still holding a grudge?" Marcus asked, making Damien stare him down right there in the doorway.

"Why the fuck wouldn't I? You didn't go out of you're way to stand up for me back then, did ya." He growled back.

"That was over six years ago, Damien. I thought you might have gotten over it." The Merc replied with a surprised tone, which only made Scott more agitated as he narrowed his eyes.

"Really?! You thought that after getting set up by some bastard in Iraq for something I didn't do, the kicked out of the military and have everyone I know believe me to be a dishonourable piece of shit, that I would just get over it after a couple of years?"

"Hey, when the accusations came about, I stood up for you. But then opium was found in your locker and there was nothing more that could be said in your defence, not when Command made up their minds. With your record of flirting with insubordination, due to your issues with authority, they only needed an excuse." Marcus said back with an honest tone, one underlined with regret.

"But, think about it. That only happened after I questioned the intel we received during our WMD search in Iraq. The whole thing stunk like shit…" Damien explained, only to be cut off by his friend.

"And right there, that is your problem, Damien. You questioned the orders of a superior officer for like the umpteenth time. You and me, we both came through the ranks together as cocky 19 year olds and I could see that the only reason that our superiors put up with your skirting with insubordination was because you were one hell of a soldier."

"You try'in to sweet talk me, Marky?" the other American then said with a slight smirk, lowering his defence just enough for the Merc to relax a little as he looked away and sighed, before returning his attention back to their conversation.

"Look, Damien, what happened to you, that whole situation was toxic. But, I did not come here to but heads with you over what happened." He said, bringing a curious look to the former-soldier's face.

"Why are you standing at my doorstep then?"

"I'm here to offer you an opportunity to be what you're good at…a soldier…" Howser began to answer, while Scott stayed quiet and listened.

"…because I know that you are generally considered unemployable due to your dishonourable discharge. But since I run my own PMC and I know you better than all the rest, I can safely say that I want you on my team. So, what do you think? Can I come in, and we discuss this more?" he continued, bringing a thoughtful smirk to Damien's face.

"Why not…" he started to reply, before stepping aside and giving his friend room to enter.

"…make yourself at home."

Marcus nodded and walked in, only to be greeted by by the sight of a young, pretty Malaysian woman hastily putting on a silk bathrobe.

"Hi, Ma'am." He said in a polite and friendly manner as his host closed the door and turned to them.

"Damien, what's going on?" She asked with a slightly annoyed tone to her voice, only for Scott to smile back as he approached her.

"Just an old friend, Honey. Can we get a few minutes alone?" He then asked, gaining an unsure nod in return from the woman.

"Alright, I'll wait for you in the bedroom."

His lover then left the pair in the make-shift living-room, closing the door behind her, which made Scott return his attention to Marcus.

"Alright, Marky, talk."

"As I said out in the hall, I have my own PMC..." the Merc began to explain, which did not go for very long as Damien cut him off.

"Yeah, that bit I know. Congrats by the way, but what's this got to do with me?" He asked with an impatient tone.

"Right now, Trojan has been hired by a member of the US government to take care of a loose end that could unravel a potential deal for Afghanistan, one that could stabilise the region for US interests." Howser continued, earning a curious look from Scott as he listened.

"I see and why would you want to hire me for this? It sounds like it should be a done deal for you and your boys." The man then asked, which made his friend stare back with a less than confident expression.

"You'd think so, but this 'loose end' is a highly skilled soldier who made short work of the Delta Force squad sent in to neutralise him. My men and I are to terminate him, but I do not intend to underestimate him and that is why I'm talking to you."

"Sounds like this guy's a real 'one man army', but I still don't see where I would fit in." Scott said back unconvinced, bringing a knowing look to Marcus's face.

"I want you, Damien, because you're the best and because you have experience with this particular soldier."

This made the other American tilt his head slightly as a curious expression appeared on his face.

"Who're we talking about here?"

"His name is John Porter, he's a British soldier that you worked alongside in Afghanistan back in 2002."

The sound of that name made Damien's widen ever so slightly, though he hid it well as he just stared back at Marcus.

_'That's a name I've not heard in a while._ ' He thought.

"Porter. That name rings a bell." He then replied casually while lighting up a cigarette and taking a drag, gaining a knowing look from Howser.

"And so it should, since you two coordinated with a rebel leader named Latif at that time. I read his file on the way over here. Apparently, he had a similar experience to you in the Iraq invasion, being blamed for an incident and then forced to retire. Porter even followed in your footsteps and joined one of his country's Intelligence Agencies, while your stint with the CIA was short lived."

This made Scott look away for a second with a regretful expression as Marcus's words forced him to remember the painful reason for his departure from that agency.

"Now if you join my team and help us take out Porter, I can promise that you will can go back home, that your record will be wiped and you'll be a fully fledged soldier again." The Merc continued with a confident tone, regaining Damien's attention as he turned back to face him.

"That's a hell of a deal, Marky."

"Like I said, this loose end could be a big problem for our Administration's plans for Afghanistan. If this mission is completed, then your exile will be over and the crap you've been through will come to an end..." the other guy added, noting the thoughtful look on his old friend's face.

"...I know you want to find out who turned on you during the Iraq invasion and why. That and everything else I've told you is on offer and all it takes..." he carried on, only for Scott to cut him off.

"All it takes is my help to kill Porter." He finished, earning a nod from Marcus.

"That's right, Pal."

The former soldier stood there in front of his Mercenary friend and looked up at the ceiling fan as he thought on it, before letting out a sigh.

"Okay, well as good as that deal sounds, Buddy,..." he then said while looking back at the Trojan owner, who stared back with a restrained look.

"...but I'm going to have to pass."

This brought a surprised expression to Howser's face, with the man blinking twice as he looked at Scott like a deer caught in car headlights.

"What...?" He said back, while the other American crosses his arms and looked at him with now serious face as he shook his head slightly.

"Sorry, can't do it."

"...Why?" Howser asked with a confused tone, making Damien take another drag from his cigarette and exhale the smoke at his friend.

"Because even though I would like nothing more than to go back to the States, to have a second chance and most importantly... to find the guy that screwed me over and kill him..." he began to say, while Howser just stood there in a confused daze and listened.

"...what you've forgotten about me, Marcus, is that I have never stabbed a friend in the back to make things better for myself."

"You can't seriously..." the Merc began to say, before quickly being cut off by Scott once more.

"John Porter's a buddy of mine, like you, Curtis, and the others. So, my answer's no."

Marcus could only look back at him with a gobsmacked expression, before finally being able to unmince his words.

"Damien, you do realise that this offer is your only chance to get your life back in order and go home, right? No one else would even waste a glance at you, not with your record." He said back in an exasperated tone, which earned a smirk from Scott as he smoked his cigarette again.

"I might be unemployable, Buddy, but at least I'm still honorable. That's more than I can say for you."

The Merc could only roll his eyes before walking back to the door, before looking back at his old friend, who just stood there and watched.

"I hope that's a decision that you can live with, Damien, because you're going to be living in this filth for the rest of your life." He said while opening the door.

"Hey, don't knock it till you've tried it, Marky." He replied as the gjy left and closed the door behind him, while the woman re-entered the livingroom.

Is everything okay, Damien?" She asked, gaining a warm smile from him in response as he put his arm around her.

"Yeah, I'm good, Honey." He replied before kissing her, earning a sweet moan from her as she returned it.

"That's good, now come to bed with me." She said back in an alluring tone, earning a nod from the American in return.

"Yes, Ma'am." He answered before being led towards the bedroom by her, only stopping to turn the light off and look out the window with a thoughtful look.

_'Good luck out there, Buddy._ '

 

**~~/|\~~**

 

Back at the Crib, Col. Grant and Maj. Sinclair stood at the operations table, looking over various documents that were scattered over it.

"Major, any word on how Brady and Richmond are doing?" The former asked, not even bothering to look up at her subordinate.

"Not as of yet, Ma'am. They are still searching, as far as I can tell." The latter replied, before one of the operatives manning the nearby computers looked over at the pair.

"Colonel, Major." She called, earning the pair's attention as the left the table and joined her.

"What is it, Lieutenant?" Sinclair asked with a curious tone, while Grant remained silent and stoic-looking.

"I've just received a message from the Base's control tower. A helicopter is approaching from the east and requesting clearance to land."

"Have they identified themselves?" The Section-20 leader then asked, a slither of hope in her voice as she spoke.

"Yes, Sir. It is the second one that went out to extract Bravo team. The Base Commander is heading out to greet them now." The operative replied.

"Inform him that I will join him..." Grant then said, before turning her attention to Sinclair.

"...Major, you are in command until I return." She then added while getting ready to leave, earning a nod from her SEC.

"Yes, Colonel." He answered as he watched her leave, before turning his attention back to the operative.

"Keel me apprised of the situation."

A moment later and Eleanor Grant was being driven out to the area where the chopper had been cleared to land, which was now being bathed in the glow from the nearby floodlights as the sun descended beneath the horizon, allowing the darkness of night to reclaim the sky once more.

_'I hope everyone's alright._ ' The Colonel thought as she saw the General's jeep parked up ahead, with the base commander waiting for her as her vehicle pulled up alongside.

"Colonel Grant, that was fast." The greying man said as she stepped out of the jeep and joined his side.

"Considering the communications blackout that we are currently experiencing, this could be the first piece of Intel we have had in several hours, General Danvers. And I also want to know that my people are alright." She replied, earning a understanding nod from her superior.

"As do I, Colonel..." he began to say, only for the pair's attention to be caught by the sound of an approaching Chopper, making them look in it's direction and see it flying towards them.

"...since I too had people out there. But as far as the blackout goes, you do realise that the search would be going better if I had been allowed to have my people work alongside your own." The General continued, bringing a knowing expression to Grant's face.

"We know for sure that there is a saboteur among us, Sir. But since we do not know whose people they hide amongst, the fewer people who know the truth, the smaller the chance that the saboteur will discover that we are closing in on them."

"I hear you, Colonel, I do. I just don't like not having complete control of what happens on my base, not matter how temporary it is." He said back as they kept their eyes on the chopper as it landed.

"Hopefully we will not be impeding on your authority for much longer, General Danvers..." The woman tried to reassure, before stopping as the helicopter's doors opened and two soldiers

climbed out, revealing themselves to be Michael Stonebridge and John Porter.

This brought a sense of relief the Colonel as she saw the two men, bringing a slight smile to her face.

_'The Sergeant did it, he brought John home._ ' she thought, before seeing Porter bring out a prisoner.

_'Okay, I wasn't expecting guests._ ' She added with an impressed smile, only for that to drain away as she noticed that no one else, except for the helicopter's crew, exited the vehicle.

"Col. Grant, mission accomplished." Stonebridge then said as he stopped in front of the pair and saluted them, making the Section-20 Commander and the General mirror his action.

"Well done, Stonebridge." She replied, before looking over at Porter and his prisoner.

"Welcome back, Sergeant Porter." The Colonel then said to the new guy, gaining a stoic nod back in return.

"It's good to be back, Ma'am." He replied before she then looked at the pair's defeated prisoner with a curious expression.

"And who is this?" Grant asked, which gained little reaction from the Afghan as he simply looked at the floor.

"This, Colonel, is Zahir Sharq, Afghan politician and revolutionary…" Stonebridge then started to say, with John quickly taking over as both their boss and the General listened.

"…he was working with the Americans and it was his men that killed Gerald Baxter, Hugh Collinson, Layla Thompson…and Danni Prendiville." He said, with his face fracturing a little while mentioning that last name.

"…as well as the crew of the first Helicopter." Michael added whilst looking over at the Base Commander, earning a solemn nod back in response.

"Considering only one of the two choppers we sent out returned, it was a forgone conclusion that one had been shot down. I had hoped that the crew had survived, but no one else was on that chopper with you."

"I'm sorry, General." Michael then said, making the superior shake his head with a knowing look.

"Neither of you owe me or my men an apology. They were doing their duty, and like you, they knew the risks of wearing the uniform."

"Of course, General. But still, you have our condolences." Grant then added, gaining an appreciative nod back.

"Thank you, Colonel, and you have mine. Let's make sure that their sacrifices were not for nothing." He

Replied whilst looking over at Sharq, making all three Section-20 operatives nod back in return.

"Of course, General. We will make sure that this man give us what we require of him." Eleanor said back as she gave the prisoner a knowing look, while he just kept his eyes fixed on the ground.

"Well, I have my duties to continue and a number of letters to write. Please excuse me." The Superior then said, before walking back to his jeep and leaving the four people there.

"Alright, Gentlemen, let's get this man back to the Crib and begin your debriefing." The Colonel then said before climbing back into the other jeep, with the others following suit.

And as their jeep then started back to their command center, a transport-truck was heading to the base's main entrance.

Sitting in the vehicle's cab were two american soldiers with one driving as the other answered a call on his phone.

"This is Zero. Give me a sit-rep." Howser's voice then said

"We are approaching the base's entrance as I speak, Zero. So long as the fake identities and mission orders we were given pan out, we should be able to go through the facility with no trouble." The squad leader replied while looking down at the folder lying on the dashboard in front of him.

"They will work, Alpha-One. Our client has guaranteed it, so long as you and the squad are wearing those US army patches as well?" The boss said back, earning a nod from the merc in return as he glanced at the driver's s upper right arm.

"We are using everything supplied to us, Zero."

"Okay then, the mission is a go. I'm already on my way back to our client in the UK, so contact me when you're finished. Drinks will be on me when you get back to American soil." Marcus added, earning a smirk from Alpha-One in return.

"Sounds good, Sir."

"Okay. You have a go, Zero out." Howser said back before ending the call, making Alpha-One look back at the driver and the dozen soldiers sitting in the back.

"Alright, Boys, Boss says he'll buy the bar for us after this mission is completed." He announced, gaining smiles and cheers from the others.

"So, let's get in there, kill our targets and get back in time for Happy hour." The squad-leader than said, before their vehicle pulled up to the entrance's guard post.

**~~/|\~~**

Meanwhile, in the Crib. Sharq had been placed in a guarded room as both Porter and Stonebridge walked back up to the operations table with Grant.

"Things are certainly busier than when I was last here." Michael observed as he looked at his surroundings, while other operatives worked away at their stations franticly.

"Well, we are trying to solve the problem of our communications blackout, Sergeant." Sinclair replied as he joined the three of them, earning a knowing look from the Colonel.

"Stonebridge, the Major will be handling your debrief..." she then said, before turning her attention to the other Sergeant.

"Porter, if you'll follow me to my office." She gestured, gaining a nod from him in return as he started to follow the woman away, only to glance back at his younger comrade and give him a knowing look, earning a mirrored reaction in return as he nodded back.

"Please come in, Sergeant." Grant then said as she held the door to her office open and let the soldier in.

"Thanks you, Ma'am." He replied before she closed the door as a more relaxed expression appeared on her face.

"Let's leave our ranks at the door for a moment, shall we." She said back, earning a surprised look from Porter.

"Alright, Eleanor." He responded, making the Section-20 leader stare back with a knowing gaze.

"I know it's been a while, John, but you can still call me 'Ellie'." She insisted, earning a sigh from the former SAS operative.

"Okay, Ellie. How long has it been? Eight years? I see you've done well for yourself."

"I was lucky..." Grant began to reply in a humble tone, while her face expressed regret as they both sat down at her desk.

"...though I wish the same could have been said for you too."

"Yeah, I was definitely given a bad hand there." He replied whilst looking down at her table, while Eleanor picked up two bottles of water from the small table in the corner of the room and turned back to him.

"That is an understatement, John..." she began to say back, while handing him one of the bottles.

"...you were forced out of the military for a mistake that was not you're doing. I can't imagine what it was like, having to live with that belief that you were responsible for your friends deaths."

This brought a thoughtful look to Porter's face as he opened the bottle, with his friend and superior doing the same.

"It was no picnic, Ellie. My entire life fell apart after that. My marriage, my relationship with my daughter..." he replied, only to stop as he looked back at his friend.

"…Alex, how is she?" he then asked.

"Alexandra is fine, John. She is still staying with Collinson's wife. She is waiting for you to come home."

"And I am going to, since I have no intention of letting my daughter end up an orphan." The man then said, which brought a saddened expression to the Colonel's face.

"Yes, I heard that Diane had died. I am sorry, John." She consoled, gaining a slight nod back as Porter looked thoughtfully at the floor.

"Yeah, thanks, Ellie. I'm sorry too. Even after everything I put her through after Iraq, the fact that we just drifted apart. It still hurt me to hear that she had died." He said while returning his attention to her.

"You also have my condolences for Sergeant Danni Prendiville..." Eleanor began to explain, which once again made John look away with a regretful face.

"…though it was never brought up in the short time she worked under me, I could tell that you meant a lot to her." She continued as he sighed again.

"…she meant a lot to me too. Like I said earlier, Diane and I was already on the way out. I can't say that I was certain that Danni and I had a future together, but…I was looking forward to finding out…" the former SAS soldier answered, only to stop and go quiet for a moment as he held the water bottle, watching a drop of water run down it's side, onto his hand.

"…now I will never know."

Grant then sat down opposite the Sergeant, a more stoic and focused look appeared on her face as she looked at her old friend.

"John, this Section is under my command and we are going to go after the one responsible for all of this…" she started to say, bringing Porter's attention back to her.

"…and I want you to join us, to re-join this unit. But I need to know that you aren't going to let a need for revenge cloud your judgement on this."

The man's expression then changed to one similar to the Colonel's, as he let go of the bottle and sat up in his chair.

"You know me, Ellie. I'm a soldier. My duty is to my fellow soldiers and the mission at hand, but I need to know that you will have my back in return." He answered, earning a taken-aback look from her in response.

"Excuse me."

"I have worked for Section-20 on a number of missions already, Ellie. And each time, I was pretty much left to fend for myself by those in command. If I was to come back for this mission….and only this mission, then I need some assurances that I'm not going to be stabbed in the back again." He explained with a 'matter of fact' tone, which brought a knowing look to the Colonel's face.

"I understand, John…" she said before an ever so slight smile appeared on her face.

"…and you know that I look after my own, that has not changed."

Porter smirked back as he then put his hand in his shirt pocket and pulled out Gerald Baxter's flash-drive, making the Section-20 leader's gaze move to it.

"Then you're going to need this…" he replied before handing it to her, before both soldiers look back at each other.

"…so what are we waiting for?"

 

**~~/|\~~**

 

Meanwhile, elsewhere on the British Army Base. Richmond was searching one of the server rooms, looking for anything that looked out of place.

' _If I was a signal scrambler, I would be around….here._ ' the Sergeant thought as she turned a corner and found the device sitting between two servers, making her eyes widen a little as a smile appeared on her face.

' _Found you.'_

Julia then knelt beside the device and looked it, recognising some parts of it as she stared at it.

' _I think I can deactivate it._ ' She reasoned to herself, hoping that would be the case as she began to reach down to the Scrambler.

"Freeze!" a male voice then commanded from behind her, making the Sergeant look over her shoulder to find two MDs aiming their rifles at her.

"Please stand down. I am Sergeant Julia Richmond of Section-20." She said back in a calm, if slightly surprised tone. But the pair ignored her plea and kept their weapons trained on her.

"They know who you are, Sgt. Richmond…" a familiar voice then spoke as another person entered her view between the two soldiers.

' _Brady?!_ ' the young woman thought with an alarmed expression as her fellow comrade stood they and looked down at her.

"…you're the Saboteur. And you're under arrest." He added, making Richmond reluctantly raise her hands over her head in return.

 

**A/N: Well I hope you enjoyed Chapter Five and I want to thank you for reading it, since it is greatly appreciated. :)**

**Next Chapter: With Richmond arrested, Section-20 finds it's self in disarray over what to do next. But this is only the beginning as another threat prepares to strike.**


	7. Chapter 7

 

Zahir Sharq was all alone as he sat in the interrogation room, having nothing to do but look at his surroundings as he waited for someone to come through the door. But nothing had happened for the last ten minutes, with only the shadows of the two guards on the other side being visible to him.

The room itself was very scarce with no windows, only two chairs and a table for furniture. The paint job was very basic as well, with a gray-ish blue which had been adequately applied to the walls.

But it didn't look like it had been long since it was added to the walls, as though the room had only been painted a few days ago. This led the Afghan to look at the floor and notice a large dried stain in the corner to his left.

_'What's that..?_ ' He started to think, only to be cut off as Col. Grant was let into the room by one of it's guards, carrying a laptop in her hands.

"So, Mr. Sharq..." she said while sitting down at the other side of the table only to notice his attention was not on her, so she looked in said direction and saw the stain.

"...ah, yes. Before my unit and I borrowed this area of the base for our operation, it was previously loaned out to the Americans..." she started to explain, while the Afghan kept his stare away from her.

"...and I believe that they used it as their own little slice of Guantanamo Bay."

This brought the Politician's eyes back to her own, which made her smirk ever so slightly.

"So, I guess you've heard of that place." she added, bringing a stoic and steeled expression to his face.

"Club Gitmo? Why, of course. It's the place where the Americans tortured hundreds of my countrymen." He replied, earning a mirrored look from Eleanor.

"That's true. So I have to ask myself, why have you been working with them? Considering how they've treated your Afghan brothers."

"You will not get anything out of me, Colonel." Sharq replied with a relaxed tone, making the Section-20 leader sigh in return.

"Seriously? You want to do this the long and drawn out way?" She said back before activating the laptop, which brought a slight smirk to the prisoner's face.

"I have nothing but time, Colonel..." he started to reply, only to be cut off as Grant showed him the footage of his video-chat with the US politician.

"This is you agreeing to hand over Gerald Baxter and my agent John Porter to US Liaison Frank Arlington." She stated in a matter-of-fact tone, which gained nothing more than a calm and collected look from Sharq.

"So, Yusef betrayed me in more ways than one." He answered with a slight undertone of venom in his voice, earning disbelieving stare from the Colonel.

"That's ironic..." She started to say, making him give her a questioning look back.

"…since you betrayed his confidence by agreeing to give him over to the US. That was only after manipulating him in his unstable frame of mind to join your little insurgency and have him use his hacking skills to further your own goals. Am I missing anything here?" the Colonel then questioned, only for the Afghan to remain silent.

"I guess your silence is because you believe that Arlington will get you out of here. But I have bad news for you, since it is more likely that he will abandon you instead. I mean, t is well documented how after the USA had helped certain middle eastern countries in the past, that they then left them to clean up the mess…" she continued, before stopping for one moment and looking directly at him from across the desk with a curious expression.

"…didn't that happen to Afghanistan too?"

This made Zahir's eyes meet hers as he looked over at her, but still he remained tight-lipped and crossed his arms in defiance, though with barely disguised look of anger on his face. So the Section-20 commander simply smirked confidently and stood up, before walking over to the stained floor in the corner of the room.

"You can keep this up for as long as you want, Mr. Sharq. But I know how to get you talking." She said while looking down at the stained corner, making him glance over to her silently and then at the floor.

"If you don't start cooperating with us, then I will be forced to let you go."

This made Sharq's eyes widen a little as he chuckled at that comment.

"Really? That is your play, Colonel?" Sharq replied with a disbelieving tone to his voice, while his interrogator remained stoic and just returned to her chair.

"I do not think that you understand me. Because after I release you from this place, I will let it slip to your brothers in the Taliban how you were working with their hated enemy. How you wanted to be like them and how the US would help you take over from them and make the country more like their enemy's."

This brought a look of realisation to Zahir's face as he listened to the Colonel, who then started to walk around the desk and him.

"You see, I only needed a moment to gauge what kind of a man you are, and I've put that together with what Sgt. Porter told me about your dealings with the Taliban. You were one of them once, but in recent years had come to despise how they had been ruling the country and thought that you could do better…" she continued to theorise while circling the prisoner, like a shark with it's prey.

"...by using your experience and knowledge gained overseas in the western countries, with the very people that your own would label as 'infidels'. This of course, explains your choice of expensive suits, which is not how native Afghans dress..." she added while gesturing to his clothing, though the Politician remained quiet and listened with an increasingly worried expression.

"...so you first reinvented yourself as the Taliban's version of a foreign secretary, to help them get their hands on weapons and resources. But secretly, you made plans for yourself to usurp them and take over the group, so that you can reclaim the country for yourself. But to do this, you would require allies and resources. So you made contact with Frank Arlington and have been trying to gain US support, promising to bring Afghanistan into line with what they wanted, even though the reality really is only as far as your own goals will allow." Eleanor continued, before stopping at the guy's right and looking down at him with a knowing look.

"Of course, this is just my theory after putting together all the facts at hand. Though, I am very certain that it is completely true and that once the Taliban hear this, they will find you and execute you in front of the masses." The Section-20 Commander then finished before looking down at Sharq, noting the now worried and thoughtful look on his face.

"So..." she then started to say, before folding the laptop up and carrying toward the door, only to stop as the guard outside opened it for her.

"...I'm going to give you some time to weigh your options here. I sincerely hope you make he right decision." Grant then finished as she gave the prisoner one last look, before leaving him to sit in that room alone once more as the door was closed behind her.

"So, Colonel, how did it go?" Porter asked, almost surprising the woman, though she hid it extremely well beneath her cool and collected demeanor, as he waited on her side of the door.

"Well, Sergeant. As you said, Sharq was certainly not going to cooperate willingly. So, I just gave him an ultimatum and am now leaving him to stew for a while."

"I hope it works, Colonel." The soldier replied, gaining a confident look back from his superior.

"I think it will, John, considering how he looked when I left. Now please, join Sinclair, Stonebridge and myself at the operations table." She said back while gesturing to the center of the Crib where the others were standing, with Porter then following her there.

**-_/-\\\\_-**

Meanwhile, elsewhere on the base. General Danvers sat at his desk in his office and was looking over various reports, only to have his attention caught by a knock on the door.

"Come in." He called out, before the door opened and an American officer entered the room.

"General Danvers, Captain James Lynch, Military Intelligence." The new arrival said whilst saluting, which made Danvers acknowledge him in return as he sat there.

"Captain, may I ask why I was not already informed of your arrival?"

"Please forgive the secrecy, General, but it was by my superior's order that your men at the gate not announce my arrival." Lynch replied, earning a sceptical expression from the base commander.

"That was rather unorthodox, Captain. And who is your Superior?"

I've come with a message from Brigadier General Donald Harrison at Bagram Airfield, since we took notice of the fact that your communications are currently down." The younger man replied while taking an envelope out of his pocket.

"I see. So, what is this about." The General then asked as he noticed the item in the other's hand.

"We have come into possession of Intel that Taliban are likely to attack this base in the near future, and General Harrison thinks that some defence drills should be conducted to ensure you're ready for such an attack...starting now." the American answered, gaining a shocked look from the base Commander in return, having read the letter while listening.

"The General wants us to start running drills with all of our on-base forces and equipment? If this Intel is correct, why not send us some reinforcements along with yourself?"

"General Harrison believes that if the US miltary was to take any action like that, it could alert the Taliban to the fact that we knew, and they would start looking for the leak in their ranks. But since we do not know the exact time of this attack, we should not waste any more time just talking about it." Lynch answered back in a 'matter-of-fact' tone, while Danvers shook his head in response.

"This is highly irregular, Captain, and I am having hard time believing any of it. If our communications were up, I would simply call Harrison about this, to double check your claim."

"Please, General, don't blame the messenger. But if you require some credence to this whole thing, the request does come with General Harrison's signature." The younger soldier replied, earning a reluctant nod from the Brit as he looked back down at the letter.

"Yes, I can see that. Okay..., I will give the order. But as soon as our comms are back up, I will be on the phone to your superior about this. You're dismissed, Captain." The General then said with a slither of disdain to his voice, making the American salute him once more.

"General." He replied before turning around and leaving the room, before the older man picked up the receiver of his phone and began making calls.

Outside, Captain Lynch started walking away from the building and it's guards, before discreetly tapping the small com-link in his ear.

"This is Alpha-One. Everyone, what's your sit-rep?" He then said quietly, before a number of voices began speaking into his ear.

"This is Beta. We are positioned outside the north section the Section-20 building. No one suspects anything, yet."

"This is Ceta. We too are in position on the western side of the target."

"Delta here. We're covering the south of the building.

"Alpha here. We're ready on the eastern side, waiting for you to join us."

This earned a nod from Alpha-One as he took a turn behind one of the nearby tents, making his way through the area.

"Very good, I'll be there momentarily. We then just have to wait for the British to move their troops into position for the fake drill, then we'll detonate the C4 planted 200 yards away and let them take the bait before, and only before then making our attack on Section-20." He explained, while members of the British army started to rush around him as they heard and carried out their General's orders.

"Remember, we are to kill everyone in there. There can be no survivors."

"Understood."

Back at the Crib, everyone was standing around the operations table as both Stonebridge and Porter finished off the debrief.

"Thank you, Gentlemen. That is everything, correct?" Grant asked as she looked over at both soldiers, from Porter to Stonebridge.

"Yes, Ma'am." The younger man replied, earning a nod from his friend.

"That's right, Colonel."

I must admit, that was quite the mission report you gave us, Porter. You have definitely been through an ordeal." Sinclair added in a dry manner, bringing the former SAS Operative's attention to him.

"I would agree with that, Major, except that this experience has become just another Tuesday for me here at Section-20, since this shit normally happens. But Colonel Grant has told me that will not be the case under her command and I have no reason to not believe her…" he explained before giving the leader a trusting look, gaining a nod back.

"…so, I am here to help get this Arlington bloke and earn some payback for Danni and Layla."

"I can get behind that." Stonebridge added, earning a knowing nod from Sinclair as they all looked at each.

"I am glad that we are all on board with that, because…" Eleanor then began to say, only to stop as the sounds of moving machinery outside caught her attention.

"Major Sinclair, what's going on out there?" she asked, which made her second in command look over at their communications station.

"Sirs, it appears that the base is undergoing a defence drill. They're moving all of their heavy artillery out to the base's perimeter." the young woman manning that station said, bringing a questioning look to Grant's face in return.

"That doesn't sound right. Danvers would have given me a heads up if such maneuverers were to be undertaken while we were here." She said, while the major had gone over to the comm-station and was looking at the subordinate's monitor.

"According to this, it was suddenly given the go ahead due to the persistence of our American allies." He stated, which made the Colonel shake her head as she reached for the nearby phone as Stonebridge and Porter watched.

"Something isn't right here. I'm going to give the General a call…"

But before the Section-20 Commander could finish her sentence or do any of what she had just said, Lt. Brady entered the command centre with two of their MDs and Sgt. Richmond in tow.

"Colonel, Major, we have found the Saboteur." The young officer stated as everyone looked at the handcuffed Sergeant, who did not look happy as she was held by the other two soldiers either side of her.

"Sgt. Richmond?" Grant replied with a disbelieving tone, echoing the looks of Sinclair and Stonebridge as Porter just looked on with a puzzled expression.

"Colonel, I didn't…" the young lady began to reply, before being cut off by the Lieutenant.

"We found her in the Server rooms with the very device we've been searching for." Brady explained.

"That's circumstantial evidence, Lieutenant." Sinclair replied in a surprised and disbelieving tone, before he turned to Grant.

"Colonel, I have worked with Sgt. Richmond for a number of years now and in that time, she has proven herself to be nothing but loyal and truly exceptional. I do not believe for one moment that she is capable of being the saboteur." He added, making his superior nod back as she looked between Julia and Brady with a thoughtful expression.

"I agree, Major. After all, you recommended Richmond for this Section and I gave her a full back ground check as well..." she started to say, only to turn her attention to the Lieutenant.

"..., Brady, you have made a serious allegation against a fellow soldier. I hope that you have some evidence to back that claim."

"Ma'am, you sent the two of us to search the base for the device, to look in the places where it would most likely be located. We both took two other soldiers with us, so not to raise suspicion with the base's personnel. My escorts and I had completed our search of the west side of the building where the Comms Hub is located, so we went over to the east side go help the Sergeant with her search of it..." the younger man explained, while the woman in question just gave him a disgusted look in return.

"...when we arrived at her location, we found Richmond kneeling between two of the server hubs with the device in question and from where we were standing, it looked as though she was making adjustments to it..."

"That still doesn't prove that Richmond is the saboteur." The major cut him off, not flinching one bit in his belief of his subordinate. But Brady remained the same in his posture and look as well, sighing a little before speaking again.

Major, the Sergeant was alone when we found her." Brady then said, making both Sinclair and Grant's eyes widen a little as they turned their attention to Richmond.

"Sergeant, how do you explain this?" The latter asked, a slight break in her voice could be heard as she spoke.

"I thought it would be more efficient and less time consuming if the three of us split up and searched the area alone, since there were no base personnel around at that time..." Julia began to explain, before looking around the room with a confused look.

"...in fact, they should be back by now."

This made Grant shake her head and look down at the table for a second, before turning her attention to everyone once more.

"Look, we don't have time for this..." she began to say as she looked over at Brady.

"Lieutenant, where is the device now?"

"It's still in the Comms Hub. I was going to go back and deactivate it." The younger man replied, earning a nod back from the Colonel as she pointed to the soldier left of Richmond.

"Good. You go with him, while you..." she continued, moving her attention to the other soldier on the Sergeant's other side.

"...take Richmond into my office."

"Yes, Ma'am." The three men said in unison, before starting to split up.

"Wait..." Grant then said, making them stop once again.

"...Maj. Sinclair will go with you to ensure that this scrambler is deactivated and brought back here."

This brought a surprised look to the Lieutenant's face, but he remained professional as he saluted his superior.

"Yes, Ma'am." He replied before leaving with the other soldier and the Major, with the latter giving Richmond an assuring look as he left.

"Come with me." Grant then said to Richmond and her guard, before Stonebridge then spoke up.

"Colonel, what should we do in the meantime?" He asked while gesturing to Porter and himself.

"Take a small break, Gentlemen, but don't go too far." She answered before walking to her office with the others.

This made the older soldier look over at his comrade and pat him on the shoulder.

"Come on, I could use some air." He said, earning a nod from Michael who picked up two bottles of mineral water from a nearby table as he followed the other outside.

"Now that is eerie." The latter stated as the pair saw how different the atmosphere was in the now empty base, earning a contemplative smirk from Porter as they stood next to some containers near the entrance, with the younger man handing his friend one of the bottles.

"I like it. It makes a change to have some peace and quiet for a moment…." He started to reply, only to stop and take a drink.

"…, though I'm looking forward to getting back out there and taking down this Arlington guy." He added, making Michael gesture back with a smile.

"I'll drink to that." He said before taking a swig of his own drink, before something caught the older man's attention.

I thought that all the base personnel were doing the defence exercise?" John then casually asked, which gained his friend's attention.

"Yeah, why?" He said back while turning to look in the same direction, only for the former SAS soldier to subtly gesture to stop.

"No, mate, don't look this way. I see two soldiers hiding in between two cargo containers directly a head of me." He explained before taking another drink, making Michael mirror him as he looked in another direction.

"Yeah, I have two at my twelve o'clock over here as well, hiding behind one of the makeshift buildings. And they're armed." He said in a calm and unassuming tone, reflecting his demeanour as he feigned ignorance as he looked into the distance.

"Let's just play it cool and see what they do." Porter then said, earning a nod from Stonebridge as they both took a drink from their bottles simultaneously.

"But then, the younger man's attention was caught by a sudden reflection of light coming from one of the two soldiers he spotted.

"Get down!" he the exclaimed while grabbing his friend and diving behind the containers as the four soldiers opened fire on their location, though the only sounds that could be heard were the bullets hitting the door of their building behind them and their cover.

"They're using silencers." Stonebridge said as the gunfire whistled over their heads and impacted the door behind them, earning a nod back from Porter as they stayed low to the ground behind their cover.

"They want to take us out without everyone else realising it." He replied.

"Then that combat drill the base is performing has been faked. We need to get back in there and warn the others." The younger man said back.

"The way these guys are attacking us, one pair must be firing on our position while the other reloads..." the former SAS operative deduced, which was exactly what the enemy were doing from their vantage points.

"...and vice versa. So what...?" Michael started to say, only to be cut off the sound of the door behind them opening. Both men looked back to see another Section-20 soldier come out.

"Get down!" They shouted at their colleague, but they beaten by their attackers who opened fire on him, their barrage of bullets ripping through his body as blood splattered against the door and the floor behind him.

"Damn it!" Stonebridge exclaimed as the guard fell to the ground, dropping his assault rifle as Porter then smacked his shoulder.

"Follow my lead." He stated before crawling along the floor to the now dead body and grabbing the weapon, while his younger friend followed suit and equipped his fallen comrade's side arm.

"They've stopped firing." Michael then said, having noticed that the attack had stopped.

"They're coming, get ready." John replied as both men rolled onto their backs and looked toward their previous cover with weapons ready, just as two soldiers appeared.

"Fire!" He then exclaimed while pulling the trigger, firing a bullet directly through the man's head as his former SBS operative did the same and put three bullets into his target's chest.

"They're still alive, take cover!" The other attackers called out as Porter and Stonebridge got to their feet.

"We need to get back to the crib, let's go." Porter then said before firing another burst of gunfire towards the remaining attackers, ensuring they stayed back.

"After you." His partner replied as he held the door open, letting the older man in as he quickly checked area and then followed.

Meanwhile, back in the crib. Grant came out of the 2nd interrogation room with a puzzled look on her face, earning a mirrored look from the guard standing her, as well as everyone else.

"Was that gunfire?" She asked the others, before being cut off as several masked soldiers jumped through the windows all around them and started gunning down the Section-20 operatives.

The Colonel instinctively threw herself to the ground to evade them as the guard and the rest of her people around either did the same thing or were killed where they stood.

"What the he...?!" Eleanor muttered as she saw the soldier lying dead at her feet, before looking up to see one of the attackers standing over her with their weapon aimed at her head.

But before he could pull the trigger, Richmond tackled him to the floor, grabbing his side arm and unloading a few bullets into him as she kicked over his rifle to her superior.

"Thanks, Sergeant." Grant replied as she and the other woman opened fire on the enemy, earning a quick nod in return.

"Ma'am."

But the pair found themselves quickly taking cover behind a desk as they were outnumbered by the attackers, with the remaining Mercs focusing on the two of them as everyone else was either injured or dead.

"We need to…" Grant started to say, before noticing one of the enemies approaching the interrogation room across the room from them.

"Can't let them kill our only lead." She then finished, gesturing to Richmond what was about to happen. So both women readied their weapons and tried to fire back, only to be pushed back down at the continuing onslaught of bullets.

"We're pinned down here, Colonel." The Sergeant replied with anger underlining her words, earning a nod from the Secton-20 leader.

"Did that guy have any grenades?" Eleanor then asked while gesturing back to the body behind them, making the younger woman shake her head in response.

"No, he does not, Ma'am. And we are too far from our weapons locker to get our own." Julia answered, which only made the Colonel's face look more focused and determined as she took a breath.

"Then I guess, we'll do it with what we have. On three." She said back, gaining a knowing nod from Richmond as the enemies slowly started to approach them whilst continuing to fire at their position.

"One….two…" Grant then began to say as she and her subordinate looked at each other as their readied their weapons.

"…three!"

Both ladies then dived to either side of the table and opened fire on their aggressors, taking down two of the enemies as blood splattered out from their bullet ridden torsos. But the other remaining Mercs quickly recovered and changed their tactics accordingly, making both Section-20 comrades take cover once more, only this time further apart from each other.

' _Okay, now we need some help._ ' The Colonel then thought with a desperation starting to crack her look of resolve.

Then, as if someone had heard her, Porter and Stonebridge burst into the room and opened fire on the enemies, making them dive behind nearby cover. But two of them were not fast enough as they took hits to the head and chest respectively, with the former's helmet not being enough to stop the bullet from shredding up the inside of his head.

As their bodies fell to the ground, both Sergeants took cover behind the nearby computer servers, giving one of their number the chance to head on to the prisoner.

"Good timing, Sergeants. We need some cover." Grant then shouted as the gunfire continued, gaining a nod from Porter and Stonebridge.

"And you shall have it." John called back, while Michael gave Richmond a knowing look.

"We have some friends behind us." He said with a gesture, gaining a nod from Julia who turned her attention to the doorway they had come from. And a second later two more soldiers appeared, only to be surprised as she shot them both dead in quick succession.

"Thanks." The young man replied, before he and his partner opened fire on the attackers once more, making them duck behind their cover again.

This gave Eleanor and Julia the chance they needed as they both bolted for the interrogation room, but as one of the enemies turned his attention to the Colonel, the younger woman stopped and blew him away before he could get a shot off.

The Sergeant then quickly dived behind cover once more, before the now dead enemy's comrade turned his attention to her and opened fire.

"Got ya." Porter then said as he fired a bullet right through that man's throat, spraying red across the nearby floor as dying man dropped his gun and clutched at the gushing wound whilst gasping for air as he choked on his own blood.

As that was happening, Sharq's heartrate suddenly spiked as he found himself at the mercy of one of the Mercs who had entered his cell and aimed his weapon at his head.

"Please, I can be of use to Arlington. Take me with you!" he screamed out in desperation and fear, but it all fell on deaf ears as the faceless soldier readied his weapon and started to pull back the trigger. So the Afghan could only close his eyes and grit his teeth as he waited for the gun to fire.

BANG!

' _What?!_ ' Zahir then thought with a mixture of confusion and relief as nothing happened after the big bang, so he opened his eyes to see the enemy lying dead and Colonel Grant standing before him.

"Looks like the Taliban will be the least of your worries if you don't work with us." She said with a knowing look as the gunfire stopped outside.

"All clear!" Stonebridge could be heard calling out as Porter entered the room and gave the prisoner a similar looking smirk, as he had heard what the Colonel had said.

"Yeah, Sharq. Having the Taliban and the US chasing you is no way to live, believe me." He added, gaining a subtle nod from Eleanor as she maintained her stare at Zahir, who now had a thougtful look on his face.

"So, I'll leave you to think about that some more. Give us a shout when you have made up your mind." She then said, before looking back at Porter as Michael and Julia stood in the doorway.

"Alright, let's go."

The four of them then left the Afghan Politician alone with the corpse lying just away from him, making him sigh as he looked on at it.

"All hostiles are down, Ma'am." Stonebridge reported, earning a nod from the Commander as they reentered the Crib's command center.

"And we have four injured personnel, everyone else is..." Julia began to report with a regretful tone, only for Grant to cut her off midsentence.

"Contact the General and have him send over medics..." She said to the Sergeant, before turning her attention to Porter and Stonebridge.

"...though I think he and the base personnel may have heard the gunfire already."

The pair nodded, only for the former to look back with a thoughtful expression.

"Do you think this Arlington is responsible for this attack?"

"Yes, I do, Sergeant. I would just like to know how he managed to get the US military to attack one of it's allies." she replied with curious tone, before a familiar voice spoke up behind them.

"Why don't we ask him?"

This made the survivors turn around to see Sinclair standing in the doorway with Brady, who had a gunshot in his left leg as the former had him a gun point.

"Lt. Brady?" Eleanor asked out loud, whilst the Major kept his handgun trained on the younger officer.

"We had entered the server building when we heard gunfire, which made both this man and the guard draw their weapons on me. But I disarmed and killed the guard, before making sure that this traitor was no longer a threat." He said, gaining an appreciative smile from Richmond.

"Well then, Major, please take Brady into the other interrogation room..." Grant then began to say, before giving the others a knowing smirk.

"...time to get some answers."

 


	8. Chapter 8

All was calm and quiet in Frank Arlington's apartment as he read a book in his favourite leather chair, taking a sip from a glass of red-wine standing on a small table beside him every now and then.

He was quite engrossed with the book even though the TV was on in front of him, showing a newscaster reporting on the day's events.

"That won't end well..." the American muttered to himself as he reached for the half full glass, only to be cut off by the sound of his mobile phone ringing on the right-hand arm of his chair.

 _'Took him long enough._ ' Frank thought as he picked up the phone and saw the name 'Howser appear on it's screen.

"Howser, I take it that the job is done?" The US/UK Liaison asked with a confident tone.

"No, Frank..." the other guy answered in a cold matter-of-fact way, making the former's expression change to shock.

"...the job is a bust and I have to get you out of there." The Merc-leader added, while Arlington quickly got up from his chair, knocking over the wine-glass as he did so, which spilled it's contents over the carpet below.

"What happened?!" The Liaison spat back as he stormed over to his computer, which was on a desk facing a large window that gave him a view of the street outside.

"What do you think happened? Section 20 thwarted our efforts and will now be gunning for you. I have already sent a guy over to pick you up and have a plane ready to bring you back to the States, but you need to leave now." Marcus explained, earning a worried look from the American.

"I need details, damn it!" He said back, before looking out of the window to see a black car parking up beside the building down below.

"I've heard chatter on the radio that Section 20 was attacked, as we planned, but the group has not been wiped out. I have no word on who is dead or alive, just that the British base has gone on lockdown and there has been no answer from my team since their last report in. That's not a good sign."

This made Arlington sigh as he looked back at the computer screen, watching as files flew over from the folders into the recycle bin, one after the other.

"So, whatever is left of them will be coming after me." He replied with a look of realisation on his face.

"Exactly, and you can't count on the Administration to protect you. My man downstairs has a fake passport prepared, so that you can get out of the country back into the US without a problem. But this will all go much smoother if you leave. Right. Now." The Merc answered, earning a nod from the Liaison as the computer finished deleting the files, allowing him to remove a flash-drive from it's USB port.

"Okay, I'm on my way down. Keep me safe." He said while taking a one last look around before heading for the door.

"That's the job you paid me for, Frank." Howser replied as his client then left the place while the red wine soaked into the carpet next to the chair, leaving a red stain in it's place.

**~~/-\~~**

_British Base, Afghanistan_

Porter, Stonebridge and Sinclair stood over a corpse of one of the mercs that had attacked them a few hours earlier, while the Base's Coroner worked at his desk just aways from them.

"You're saying that this guy and his friends in the body bags behind us are not with the US military?" John asked with a puzzled expression, gaining a nod from his Superior in return.

"Correct, Sergeant. They may have been wearing authentic uniforms and insignia, but they're not who their records from the front-gate say they are. It was all falsified." he answered while handing a touchscreen tablet to his colleague, who looked over it's data with Michael.

"Julia found all this out in just a few hours?" The latter asked with an impressed tone to his voice, earning a subtle proud smirk to the Major's face.

"Richmond is the best at what she does. Using the dental records that the coroner found while examining our dead friends here, along with the orders that they used to gain entry to the base, the Sergeant found that it all was practically all falsified and filled with discrepancies, ones that unfortunately escaped detection due to little scrutinization."

"So, they're not who their records say they are. How long before we do know?" Stonebridge then asked as he looked up from the screen at the Major.

"Richmond has been running a search on every American that has ever been in the military over the past 10 years with the training and experience that these men showed, hoping to match the dental records with their real names." He replied, which brought a curious look to Porter's face.

"Wait, Major. You said everything was 'practically' falsified." The younger man said, making the officer nod back in response.

"Yes, Sergeant, I did. Apparently, the only part of the orders that was not faked, or as it looks, was the signature of Brigadier General Donald Harrison."

Both John and Michael gave Sinclair unconvinced looks.

"Signatures can be forged just as easily as everything else here." The former SBS soldier said before handing back the tablet, making his Superior smirk once more.

"That hasn't been forgotten, Stonebridge. Which is why the Colonel is having a video conference with the Brigadier General right now."

In General Danvers office, elsewhere on the base. The Commander and Grant were both looking at a large TV screen showing the grey-looking US General, with the Section 20 leader standing and the British General seated at his desk.

"Colonel Grant, I don't know how many times I can say this, but I have never seen these orders before, let alone signed them." He replied in an aggressive and annoyed manner, making the woman unfold her arms and sigh.

"General, for the last time. I am not saying that you did, since we have proof that the details on the orders were falsified. So, your signature being the same is of no surprise. What is important right now is finding the people who planned and carried out this attack, and on the that front, we have a suspect."

This made the American look down, away from the screen as if he was reading something.

"Yes, the documents you sent over here say that you believe our Liaison to your government - Frank Arlington - is the one responsible..." Harrison started to say, only to look back at the Colonel with a serious expression.

"...but I've known Frank personally for a number of years now and everything you're accusing him of is ridiculous."

Eleanor rolled her eyes at that comment, before turning back to Danvers who gave her a knowing look.

"I understand how you feel, General..." she began to say while returning her attention to the screen.

"...but forgive me for not taking your word as gospel on this matter, especially since I have evidence of Arlington's role in this."

"Evidence that you didn't send over with these documents, Colonel. You know I cannot take any of this seriously if you don't share all of your information with me from the start." He replied, which made her sigh in response.

"General, we only regained control of our communications an hour ago. The first thing I did was send everything on an encrypted channel back to my superiors back at MI6, who should have already briefed the Foreign Secretary by now..." she began to say, only to stop as she could no longer hide her grievance with having to explain this all to him.

"...look, General. You should be expecting a call from your President in the next 20 to 30 minutes, but I was hoping that you could help us speed things up. Because every second we waste is another that leaves Arlington in the wind. After all, an Ally of your country was attacked and one of your own is implicated in said attack. Shouldn't we work together to find out why it happened and bring those responsible to justice as quickly as humanly possible?"

This made the Brigadier General go quiet for a moment as he mulled it over, leaving both Grant and Danvers waiting on his answer as silence filled the office.

"Let me see what I can do from my end, Colonel." He replied in a defeated tone, earning an acknowledging nod back from Eleanor.

"Thank you." the Colonel said back in an appreciative tone, before the American General noticed a list of KIA on the wall behind her and the base Commander.

"How many did you lose?" He asked with a now sympathetic expression while returning his gaze to hers.

"Too many." she answered in an honest and blunt manner, which brought an understanding expression to his face.

"Okay, give me five minutes, Colonel. I will get you the access you need."

"Thank you, General. " Grant said back in an appreciative tone, gaining a nod back before the call ended and the screen went black.

**~~/-\~~**

The Colonel then left her office and joined the others at the operations table, who had just arrived back from the coroner's office.

"Okay. As we wait for assistance from our American allies, we should go over everything we know up till this point." Grant then said to Porter, Stonebridge, Richmond and Sinclair who all stood around the operations table, while everyone else around them were packing things up.

"Well, we were going to interrogate Brady about the part he played in the recent ambush, but he is fully cooperating with us." the Major replied before gesturing to Julia, who then continued.

"Brady told us that he was approached by Arlington to be his mole inside of Section 20 after being recruited by the late Maj. Collinson. He at first refused but relented when the Liaison offered to pay for all of his mother's cancer treatments and move her into the UC Irvine Medical Center in Orange County, which is one of the best Hospitals in the country for treating cancer sufferers." The Sergeant explained while bringing up information and photos up on the main screen with her laptop, earning a curious expression from Eleanor.

"But Brady is a British Citizen. How would Arlington have the influence to do such a thing for a British soldier's immediate family?"

"The Lieutenant is British, having spent the majority of his life in the UK, that part is correct. But he was born in the US. His father was British and his mother American. After they separated, his father took him back to the UK after it was revealed that his mother would be unable to support him properly..." Julia continued, while the others listened and looked at the screen.

"..and he has been supporting her by sending money back to the US to pay for her treatments ever since he started working as a soldier."

"So when Arlington offered to help with that and more in return for his spying on us, Brady could not resist. I can understand that motivation." The Colonel replied, gaining an understanding look from most of the others.

"It still doesn't change the fact that he betrayed his oath and the trust we put in him by doing this, no matter how noble his intentions might have been." Sinclair added as he crossed his arms, standing there like an unmovable mountain in his response.

"No matter how any of us feel about the situation with Brady, it cannot be ignored that he is helping us now." Porter replied with a tinge of understanding to his voice, bringing back the memory of Collinson's sacrifice to his mind.

"I agree, so what do you think will happen to his mother now? Since he has had this change of heart to help us." Stonebridge then inquired curiously, gaining Grant's attention as she looked over to him stoically.

"Since we have plugged up the only leak that Arlington had in this section, there is no threat of him finding out that the Lieutenant has turned on him. So we can cross that bridge when we come to it, as I'm certain we can come to an arrangement with the Americans..." she began to explain, before nodding to Richmond who then brought up an Intel feed on the main screen.

"...but we need to remain focused on our new main objective - finding Arlington. I'm certain that even though he has lost his mole here, the Liaison will still have a way to find out that the assault on us has failed." She said, which gained a knowing nod from John in return.

"So, he will run back to the States." John added with a knowing tone, earning a nod from the Colonel in return.

"Of course, he will. And I want you two to be waiting for him when he gets there." she replied whilst gesturing to both him and Stonebridge, earning a curious look from them.

"But what about the Americans, Colonel? I doubt that they will be happy with us operating on American soil." the younger soldier asked.

"After this briefing, I will speak to the General again and inform him our your mission. Considering that one of his people has been secretly operating on British soil to his own end and is responsible for the deaths of a number of our personel and that of a civilian..." Eleanor began to explain before giving Porter a knowing look, gaining an understanding nod back from him.

"...I don't think he will try to stop us, maybe have one of his own alongside you. But, no. Not the former option." the Colonel carried on, making Michael raise his hand slightly and regain her attention.

"Seriously, you have your hand up?" she teased with a slight smile, having been surprised by the recruit.

"Sorry, Ma'am. But, how are we to find Arlington once he is back in the United States? I doubt he will go to his home address." he asked whilst pointing over to the data file of the Liaison that appeared on the main screen, which showed where his home was located. This made the Section-20 leader look over to Richmond and Sinclair, with the latter continuing to type on her laptop.

"You two have found something, yes?"

"Yes, Ma'am..." the Major started to reply, before gesturing to his colleague who brought up some new data files on the main screen for everyone to see.

"...during our interrogation of Brady, we asked him who the soldiers were that attacked us..." he continued to explain, only for Julia to jump in.

"...but he didn't know anything about them. So instead, we scanned the fingerprints of those dead soldiers and ran them through our database." she added, which just matched up with the photos and details appearing for all to see.

"These men were former US special forces, who were now working for a Private Military Company called 'Trojan Inc.'." Sinclair said, just as an overhead view of the PMC's headquarters appeared on the screen.

"And their base of operations is located in San Antonio, Texas."

"Alright. So, I take it we will be going in undercover - fake names, passports - the works." Porter then asked, earning a nod from Grant as Sinclair pulled out two passports from the folder on the table in front of him and handed them to the pair.

"That is correct, Gentlemen..." the Colonel began to reply, while the two men looked at the documents.

"...From here, you will take the C-130 that delivered supplies to this base from our American allies back to it's base in the States. While you are both airborne, I will have already spoken with the General again and he will have the plane diverted to the nearest military base to San Antonio. And from there, you will make your way to Trojan Inc's headquarters." she continued to explain, before noticing the curious look on Porter's face as he listened to her.

"You have a question, Sergeant?"

"I do, Ma'am. When we find Arlington, what do you want us to do with him?" he asked with a very matter-of-fact tone to his voice.

"Your orders regarding the Liaison are - to capture him and bring him back to us. If that is impossible to achieve, then you are to kill him." Eleanor replied just as bluntly, earning a stoic nod back from John in return as the Colonel looked between the pair of soldiers, while the older soldier could not hide the ever so slight smirk from appearing on his face which did not go unnoticed by either Stonebridge or Sinclair.

"Gentlemen, this man has committed crimes inside of our sovereign borders and has played a part in the deaths of members of this Section. To what ends, be they his own or those of his Country, we do not know. But he will face justice for what he has done, that is not a wish but a fact. Understood?"

"Yes, Colonel." both Stonebridge and Porter said back in unison.

"Very good. You two better get ready, since you have a plane to catch." Grant replied with a stoic tone to her voice, before the pair then began to head out of the Crib. But before either had reached the door, Porter turned around and looked back at the others.

"Colonel? Just curious, but what will you be doing while we are hunting down Arlington?" he asked, which made Michael stop and look back at them as well.

"John, I have sent our superiors a flight plan detailing our return to the UK, which should reach the hands of Arlington at any time now. But instead of following that plan, we will head out to you two once we have finished packing up here, which should happen by the time you both reach your target. Good luck." Eleanor then said, gaining nods from both operatives as they then left the command center together.

"Colonel, if I may ask...?" the Major then said as he joined his superior's side, while Richmond took her laptop back to her station.

"…is there anything I should be made aware of, concerning Sgt. Porter?" the Major asked, gaining a curious expression from Grant.

"Why do you ask, Major?" she inquired back, making her subordinate look around to make sure no one else was in ear-shot.

"It's just that I noticed during the briefing that Porter seemed to look rather eager about this mission."

This made the Section-20 leader look away with a knowing and revealing expression, earning an air of concern and urgency from Sinclair as he recognised what that was.

"Colonel, if Porter is in any way emotionally compromised by the events of the last few days, he should not be sent back into the field. This action could not only compromise the success of this mission, but we could also lose Sgt. Stonebridge..." he carried on, while Grant refused to acknowledge him as she looked down at the table.

"...hasn't this Section lost enough people already over this?

Col. Grant then turned back to the Major, never taking her eyes from his as she stared back with quiet ferocity and stoicism.

"Major, I chose you for this job because your file says that you've kept your commanding officers on their toes and were always honest with them, regardless of the situation. I am pleased to see that was not exaggerated. But allow me to be just as curt with you. I have known John Porter a long time and he is one of the finest soldiers I have worked with, and there is no way he would put his personal feelings above the mission at hand." she replied in an aggressive but calm manner, which went unnoticed by everyone around the pair.

"Alright, Colonel. If you have that much faith in the Sergeant, then I will follow you through on this. I just hope that your faith is not misplaced in this situation." he said back, before leaving Eleanor alone at the table as he walked over to Richmond's station.

Meanwhile, outside the command center. Porter and Stonebridge were heading to the exit whilst carrying their bags, when the younger of two stopped his friend with a tap on the shoulder.

"What is it, Michael?" John asked, noticing the look of concern on his partner's face.

"I just wanted to make sure that you're alright."

"Yeah, I'm good. Why'd you ask?" the older man inquired curiously, thus earning a matter-of-fact impression from his younger friend.

"Oh, nothing. Just that I saw how you reacted to the news that the Colonel wants Arlington alive, although dead is also fine if the situation demands it. Now, the others might not have noticed your expression, but I did. But's that's only because I saw how you were when we went after Sharq." he said back, making Porter clench his right fist in annoyance as he looked anywhere other than at his friend's face.

"So you saw that...?" John then started to say, only to then bring his attention back to Stonebridge, his eyes locking onto the other's.

"...I'll admit, it's a liberating feeling to know that the choice to kill the man responsible for all this shit is on the table. But if you think that I will ignore our orders and just kill Arlington out right. No..." he added, whilst his friend listened intently.

"...I'm a soldier and soldiers follow orders, and never put anything else before the mission." he finished off with a clear and concrete answer, gaining a nod back from the former SBS soldier.

"Alright, just making sure. I know I said I was behind you with killing Arlington. But now that we have orders to capture him instead, unless that becomes not the case,…." He started to reply, only for Porter to cut him off with a reassuring smile.

"Don't worry about me, Michael."

This made the younger man mirror his smile before looking down at the ground and sighing.

"You know with everything that you've had to go through recently, John, with losing Danni like you did. I could not help but think about my wife Kerry, and I honestly don't know how I would react if anything would happen to her." He said back, making the older man place a hand on his shoulder.

"No one knows how they would react, Michael. That's just the way it is…" he began to answer with a sympathetic tone to his voice, before his expression shifted to a more focused and stoic tone.

"Let's go. We've got a job to do."

This earned a nod from Stonebridge as both men then continued their way to the C-130 that was sitting on the runway.


	9. Chapter 9

 

_San Antonio – Texas_

"So how do you find our accommodations, Mr. Arlington?" Howser asked as he entered the room, gaining a disinterested glance from the Politician as the latter looked out of the window.

"It's fine." he replied while looking down at the large courtyard of the compound, which was a buzz with activity as Mercenaries went about with their daily routines around numerous military vehicles.

"Glad to hear that. I know that this isn't the Ritz, but it should do until we get you to your destination. That's Dubai, right?"

"Yes." Frank replied with a distrustful and nervous tone to his voice, to which the Merc leader just smirked back curiously.

"Yeah, my guy, who brought you over here, told me that. But I'm interested in knowing, why Dubai?"

In response to the question, Arlington pointed over to the functioning TV that was showing the current news broadcast.

_"...Frank Arlington, our Liaison to the United Kingdom has been linked to a number of incidents involving the deaths of several British Intelligence agents and has been requested to be returned to the UK for questioning, should he return to US soil. It is reported that the President and his staff are currently in talks with the British Prime Minister's Cabinet about this. We will be updating this story as it unfolds..."_

Howser reacted by giving off a sigh while picking up the TV remote and turning off the device, making the screen shut down and reveal their reflections in it's surface as the latter approached the former.

"Okay, so let's address the Elephant in the room, shall we? Since you are now wanted by the UK government and our own looks to want to hand you over to them, why haven't I done just that? Why aren't you currently on your way back to the UK, since that story broke just an hour ago and you've been here for a few more already?" He replied in a calm tone, before sitting down one on the two chairs in the room.

"Please, sit." he added with a gesture, making the former Politician do just that.

"To answer your question, I'll need to give you a little history lesson..." Howser began to explain, gaining an annoyed tut from his client, though the Merc simply ignored this and continued.

"...which began with me as a patriotic Colonel in the US Special Forces. I had been in the Military my entire adult life, rising through the ranks and believing in things such as Honour and Duty. Those two words carried me through quite a few conflicts alongside my brothers in arms during that time, quite a few that were what you would call morally grey. Whenever we were ordered to leave a man behind for the good of the mission, I did as I was ordered to do. I was a soldier, it was…my 'duty' to carry out those orders and an 'honour' to serve my country by doing so…" He carried on saying, while Arlington remained quiet and was listening with a slither of curiosity to his expression.

"…but in a long term of service, that would only get you so far and I got a long look behind the curtain when I was promoted to Colonel. It was then that I saw how little soldier's lives mean to those in command. You hear that every soldier's death is respected and remembered when they die in service to the United States. But once you finally surround yourself amongst those higher ups, you come to realise how false that notion really is." Howser added before stopping to look outside, watching as his men continued to work down in the courtyard below them.

"To those Generals that I met and worked with, a soldier's life was as worthy to them as a single digit on a spreadsheet. So, I left and started this PMC where soldiers could do what they do best without the worry that their lives would be needlessly thrown away."

"And what about the soldiers who died in Afghanistan while taking on Section 20? Weren't they just left behind by 'Trojan'?" Arlington asked with a disbelieving tone, gaining a unappreciative look from Howser in return.

"Mr. Arlington, we here at Trojan are not like the US government, who would easily leave their dead on the battlefield when it suited them. We always try to bring back our honoured fallen and only when it is impossible, like with our most recent mission, do we leave their bodies behind. But we do make sure that they are never forgotten and ensure that their families are fully supported both emotionally and financially by this PMC. It is the least we can do for the service these men give for this organisation."

"I see, but that must be very expensive. I mean, you have quite the force here at this compound." The politician observed as he gestured to the courtyard once again, gaining a nod from the PMC's founder,

"Yes, it is. But even though this is the main base of operations for Trojan, it is not our only compound. We have several compounds in countries all around the world. And to answer your original question, we have managed to build up a vast armed force here and make a lot of money in the process, because we've worked alongside a lot of…questionable people and groups. Ones that you might say they are on the darker side of the grey line between black and white. But we're mercenaries, we go where the money is good…." Howser continued, before giving his guest and customer a knowing look.

"…and when it comes to yourself, I did a little background check on where the money came from that you paid us with. And I found that you have used your own money to acquire our services, with none of it coming from the US Government. Why is that?"

"Because the work I was doing in the Middle East, despite not being legal, would have been very good for this country had it been successful. To pay out anything from them would make them complicit in the actions of those I was trying to help." The politician said back.

"And what about the weapons and supplies you had transferred to Zahir Sharq's little revolutionaries?" the Trojan founder asked back, bringing a knowing look to the other's face.

"That one's easy, since the US gives and sells weapons to other countries every other week. It's a non-issue."

"So, is there still a chance for your work to bear fruit even if it has been hampered by Section-20's interference?" Howser wondered.

"Yes, but it would no longer be of benefit to the US and would only help these associates and of course, me." Frank replied, earning a look of revelation to the former Colonel's face.

"Alright. So, it is now for self-preservation and money."

Yes, it is." the worried looking man divulged with an honesty to his voice, which made the mercenary nod back as he stood back up.

"Alright…" he began to say, before returning his attention to the politician as he looked down at him.

"…you wanted to know why we haven't turned you over to the Authorities since you landed back on US soil. Well, put simply…you're paying us with your own money and we're used to working for those who others would say are undesirable. So, just wait here and I'll go make sure that our flight to Dubai is brought forward." He finished before heading for the door, only for Arlington to regain his attention as he reached the exit.

"Thank you, Mr. Howser." He replied with an appreciative tone, making the other guy turn and look back at him with a reassuring smirk.

"No need to thank me, Mr. Arlington." He said before heading out of the room, leaving Arlington alone as the latter sighed in relief.

**######**

An hour and a half later and a silver Ford Fiesta drove down the long road towards the Trojan base, with Stonebridge at the wheel as Porter sat in the passenger seat and stared at the compound with an ambivalent expression.

"That's Trojan's Headquarters? It looks like a cross between the Alamo and a modern military base." he said, gaining a nod from the younger soldier in return.

"Yeah, if we didn't already know better, we might have thought that this Howser bloke had bought and converted the real Alamo. Which actually isn't far from here." the driver replied.

"Well, thanks to Julia, our Intel is correct and up to date..." John then said as he opened up the file lying on his lap and looked over the pages once again.

"...with Trojan being one of the biggest PMCs in the world, doing most of it's work in Africa, the Middle East and South America. And is known for helping with a number of hostile takeovers." he read aloud, earning a knowing nod from Michael in return as the latter turned his attention to his friend.

"Yes, I know, John. I did read the Intel on the flight over myself."

"And there is nothing wrong with going over it again. Especially, since we will be there in another minute or so..." the older man replied with a smirk, before looking back at his comrade.

"...you can never have too much Intel." he added before returning his attention to the file.

"Better than running around without a clue, right?" the driver said back, while the passenger nodded back while looking at a satellite photo of a top-down view of the compound.

"So, you have the layout memorized?" the former then asked, before Porter closed the file again and looked back at his friend.

"Yeah. When things go south, we should still be able to get to Arlington." he replied with a knowing tone and a sudden stoic expression, gaining a smirk from Michael as he returned his attention to the road as they passed another vehicle.

"I read the mission reports from when Collinson was in charge, John. I know things rarely went to plan, but Section 20 is under the Colonel's command now..." he began to answer back with a slither of confidence to his voice, which was quickly shot down by Porter.

"Look, Michael. No disrespect to Elli...the Colonel, but the plan will go tits up no matter who is in command of the Section. So, you should always be ready for that to happen, because it will be that much easier to deal with ' _when_ ' it happens. This sort of thing is just another Tuesday for me."

"If you say so." the driver said back a little reluctantly as they made the final turn and drove up to the entrance checkpoint, stopping next to it as a soldier walked out and up to Stonebridge's side.

"What's your business here at 'Trojan Inc.' Mr...?" the guard started to ask, before Porter leaned over a little and look him squarely in the eyes.

"Thomas Rand of Rand Enterprises. I have an appointment with Marcus Howser at 11am." he replied with an improvised American accent, which made the guard look back to his colleague standing in the stall who looked over the names on his list.

"He's on it." the other guy called back, which made the former return his attention to the visitors.

"Okay, go on through." the guard then said, gaining a nod from Stonebridge and a wave from Porter as the former drove the car into the Compound's car-park.

"Let's hope the real Rand doesn't notice that Julia hacked his website and changed his photo and details for this op." Michael then said, earning a smirk from his friend in return as he put the files back into their folder.

"Richmond did say that the changes would only last for as long as it took to set up an appointment with Trojan and would be returned to normal afterwards, so it should be fine by now." John then explained while hiding the in a hidden compartment under his seat, just as the driver brought the car to a full stop in one of the free spots and turned off it's engine.

"Yeah, you're right." the younger man answered with a slight tinge of worry to his voice, regaining the older soldier's attention.

"You ready for this, Michael?"

"I'm ready, John..." He replied with nod, though Porter just looked back unconvinced, making the former SBS soldier smirk back nervously in return.

"…but I will admit, that this part of the job comes as a surprise to me." He confessed, earning a curious expression from his friend.

"What do you mean?"

"When Colonel Grant recruited me, she said Section 20 was ' _high risk priority targets'._  Basically, being a soldier, but in a greyer area of the military that was more or less kept off the books. There was no mention of us being spies, acting as different people or walking unarmed into enemy territory." He explained with an honest tone as he gestured to Trojan's main building, which made Porter shrug his shoulders.

"Welcome to Section-20, Michael." John then said with a teasing tone to his voice, before gesturing to his 9 mm pistol.

"And what are you talking about? We are going in armed."

This earned a lop-sided grin from Stonebridge, who gestured to his own.

"Yeah. And as soon as we walk through those front doors, security will relieve us of them. So, we will be essentially naked if...when this goes ' _tits up_ '." He asserted, gaining a wink from the older soldier in return.

"Then we kill them with their own weapons. Now, let's take a page from ' _James Bond_ ' and get this done."

"I prefer ' _Jason Bourne_ '." Michael bickered teasingly, gaining an eye roll from his friend as they both got out of the vehicle and made their way to the building's main entrance.

When the pair entered the lobby and walked up to the reception, they were met by the man at the desk, as well as two security guards who stood either side of them.

"Welcome to Trojan Inc., Mr…Rand?" the Receptionist said while looking between the new arrivals and his computer screen, earning a nod from Porter in return.

"That is right. I'm here with my associate Mr. Tracey for an appointment with your boss." He replied with a stoic and commanding tone, earning a nod from the worker as the two guards stood next to them and watched silently.

"Yes, I have your appointment on our books. And you're right on time…" he started to explain, before a look of regret befell his face.

"…but I'm afraid that Mr. Howser is still with another client. So, I have to ask if it is alright for you to wait while he finishes with that first?"

"Not a problem. We can wait." Porter said back with a smile.

"Excellent. Now, if you will follow these two gentlemen to a waiting room, then I will let Mr. Howser know that you are here." The Receptionist replied, gaining a nod from the older soldier as the two started to step away from the desk.

"Sorry, but I almost forgot…I will have to ask that if you're carrying any weapons, then you will have to leave them here. Company policy." The young worker then explained with a apologetic tone, which made Stonebridge glance over at Porter with a subtle and knowing scowl.

"is there a problem?" the receptionist then asked, having noticed this.

"No…no problem." Michael then replied with a sigh, before he and his friend handed over their weapons.

"Thank you, Gentlemen. I can assure you that while you're here at Trojan Inc., your safety is guaranteed." The worker then said, before gesturing to the pair to follow the guards once again.

"There will be refreshments in the waiting room and Mr. Howser will get to you as soon as humanly possible."

Both visitors nodded back in acknowledgement before then walking away with the other two men, leaving the reception/lobby behind.

A few moments later, the pair were then let into what looked another fancy lounge on the 2nd floor, and while not as big as the other one on the ground floor, this one had a fully stocked bar, a large plasma flat-screen TV hung on the north wall and a selection of comfortable looking furniture.

The door was then closed behind the two, leaving them alone in room as they looked around at their surroundings subtly, before sitting down on the black sofa and glanced at each other knowingly, only for Porter to pick up one of the magazines and breezing through it's pages.

The two of them were on the same wavelength about their current situation, knowing full well that they were obviously under surveillance, though there was no visible hardware to be seen.

"So, anything good in that,…Sir?" Stonebridge asked, only for his friend to shake his head in response and drop it back on the pile there on the middle of the table.

"No, Scott. It's over a year old for starters."

This made the younger man shrug his shoulders before taking note of the mini-bar behind his boss once more.

"Want a drink?" he then asked while getting up and walking past for a beverage, earning nod from John in return.

"Yes, please. Orange juice would be nice."

Elsewhere in the facility, two Trojan employees watched the pair having a drink on a monitor on the wall in front of them, keeping tabs on everything the two did and said.

One of them then picked up the radio to his right and spoke into it.

"Mr. Howser, your 11am appointment is here." He said before voice of the mercenaries' boss replied an instant later, sounding somewhat aggravated in response.

"What are you talking about? I do not have an 11am appointment." He said back, earning a confused look from the employee as he glanced over to his colleague.

"But, Sir, we have the appointment on today's schedule and the visitors are waiting for you now."

"Alright, who is it that I am seeing then? And transfer the visitors room footage to my tablet." The boss replied, gaining a nod from the employee as his friend used their laptop to complete the task.

"Your visitor is Mr. Thomas Rand, owner of Rand Enterprises."

Then the radio went quiet for what felt like a long moment, leaving the two workers to stare back at each other with matching bewildered looks on their faces a dos they waited for a reply.

"Mr. Howser?" one of them then said back over the radio, only to have the Trojan owner finally speak back.

"Now, I want you to listen to me very carefully…" he then said in a calm and commanding tone, though it was underlined by a growing sense of anger.

"…I want you to quietly lock-down the building and send two guards to take out our 'guests'."

"Yes, Sir. But why?" the employee asked curiously.

"Because that is not Thomas Rand and his associate. That is Sgt. John Porter and his friend from Section 20. They are here for our client. Check Rand's website, like I just did, and you will see what I'm talking about." He said, which made the other employee do just that with the laptop.

"it's true…" he answered as the pair looked between the computer's screen and the security footage, noticing the difference between the two men.

"…but we did the background check with the Jerry on reception when this guy made the appointment and the website details matched up."

"That was all 20's doing. Now, will you follow my orders?" the boss asked in a very matter-of-fact tone, making both men nod back in unison.

"We'll see it done, Sir."

"Good. In the meantime, I will see to our client's departure personally. Now, get it done." Howser replied before the radio went dead, making one of the employees get up and leave the room as the other stayed and kept his attention on the video feed from the visitor's room.

**######**

Back in the waiting room, Stonebridge had returned to the mini-bar as Porter took another sip from his glass.

"You know, this orange juice is actually very good." The former SBS soldier said as he poured himself another glass, before a curious expression appeared on his face.

"Wasn't the meeting supposed to be at 11am? Because it is now 11:20." he then asked while looking at his watch, earning a knowing but subtle glance from Porter as he sat there on the couch.

"They did say he was busy with a 'previous engagement'." the other replied, emphasising the last two words, gaining a slight nod back from his friend. But before the younger man could move away from the mini-bar and re-join his friend, the two guards from earlier entered the room and stopped at the other side of the table.

"Finally,..." John exclaimed in a calm and relieved tone as he remained on the couch, while the two other men remained quiet and stoic in appearance.

"...is Mr. Howser ready for us now?" he added with a curious tone to the one guard that stood opposite him at the other side of the table, while the other walked over to Stonebridge's side.

"Our employer has sent us ahead to apologise, because your appointment has been terminated..." the one closest to John began to say, before both he and his partner pulled their weapons out and aimed them at the Brits.

"...as you will be, Sgt. Porter." He finished in a cold and professional manner, before it was then instantly replaced by confusion as the older Sergeant simply smirked in response, never taking his attention away from his aggressor.

"What...is so funny?" The guard then asked with a puzzled tone, no noticing that John had slipped a foot under the table.

"Nothing. Nothing at all. Do you find this funny, Michael?" The latter asked, his voice calm and unassuming.

This made the younger soldier shake his head in response as he finished pouring out another glass of orange juice, all the while still being in the iron-sights of the nearby guard's gun.

"No, Mate. Not at all." He replied, before glancing over at his own aggressor.

"Have you tried this orange juice?" He quizzed while looking over his shoulder at the other guard, who simply shook his head subtly in return.

"That's a pity, because it's really good juice." He replied with a disappointed tone, slowly tightening his grip around the glass in response.

But before the guard could reply, Stonebridge suddenly swung the full glass into the guard's face, knocking him back as the action caught his colleague by surprise.

"Wha...?!" He spat in shock as the older Brit then kicked the desk into his legs, making the merc fall forward onto the piece of furniture and drop his weapon in front of Porter.

Meanwhile, Michael had managed to disarm his opponent and fire a round through his opponent's head, killing the him instantly as his lifeless body fell back onto the floor.

The younger Brit then turned around to see his partner's foe try to recover and grab for his gun, but John got to it first and was aiming it directly at the flailing guard's head.

"Too slow." The Sergeant then said before pulling the trigger and spraying the content's of the other's head onto the floor behind him.

"So, you were right then, John." Michael acknowledged as he joined his friend's side, earning a knowing smirk from Porter in return.

"Stick with me, Mike. I know what I'm talking about with this job." He answered, before looking over to the door.

"They know who we are and what we're after, so expect this place to throw everything it has at us." He added while tapping the cufflink on his jacket, earning a nod from the former SBS operative who then walked over to the right side of the room's exit.

"Then we better get started before they raise the..." he began to reply, only to be cut off as sirens began blaring out all around the facility.

"Too late. But don't worry, help is on the way..." John reassured over the deafening sound of the alarm as he joined his friend on the door's other side and opened the door just enough to see what's on the other side.

"How many are out there?" Michael said back loudly, only for the noise to die down as the older soldier returned his attention back to him.

"Many. You ready, Kid?" He asked confidently, gaining a deep breath from Stonebridge as he remained composed and flicked back the hammer on his pistol.

"Yeah, let's do this." He said back, before they swung open the door and started firing back at the armed mercs waiting for them out in the corridor.

Meanwhile, in C130 flying through United States airspace. A light began to blink on and off on a laptop screen, gaining Richmond's attention.

"Ma'am, Bravo team have engaged Trojan's forces." She reported, earning a nod back from the Colonel as she stood with Sinclair and General Danvers at the makeshift operation's table.

"General, it is time." She said with a professional and appreciative tone, making the older American tap his earpiece in response.

"Alpha team, move in and support Bravo...Roger that and god speed." He then spoke, before returning his attention to Grant.

"They are on their way, ETA 5 minutes." He confirmed, earning an equally appreciative though disappointed look from the Major.

"It's a pity that we could not have them closer to the Trojan facility..." he worried, only to be cut off by the Danvers.

"It was the closest that we could put them without tipping off Trojan to our intentions."

"But we do have a way to take some of the enemy's attention from Porter and Stonebridge." Eleanor added before looking back to Julia and gesturing with a nod.

"Yes, Colonel." the Sergeant then replied before pressing another button on her laptop's keyboard.

Back at the facility, Arlington was pacing back and forth in an erratic and tense fashion in his room only to stop as he heard gunfire coming from elsewhere in the building.

"What the hell?!" He spat in desperation, only for Howser and four of his mercs to enter into the room with rifles ready.

"Howser. It's Twenty, isn't it?!" He challenged defiantly, gaining a nod from the Merc leader in response.

"Yes, Mr. Arlington, it is. But they will not reach you, I've seen to that. And besides, your plane is waiting for you." He calmly replied, before gesturing to his men with a hand signal, making two of them go back outside and keel watch.

"Now, you will please follow us." Marcus then added, earning a curious look from the politician.

"You're guarding me as well?"

"These men are my own personal unit. Where they go, I go..." he began to say, before then grabbing the panicked man by the shoulder and pushing him outside.

"...but time is of the essence, so let's g..." He then said, only to be cut off as an explosion erupted from the visitor's car park outside, taking out several vehicles there.

Both Howser and Arlington looked out of the window at the black cloud of smoke that was rising up from behind the other side of the building, before the latter turned back to his men.

"Darrow, tell squads C, D and E to go check out that explosion. If there are anymore of Twenty's people here, then take them out with extreme prejudice." He ordered, earning a concerned expression from the Merc.

"But, Boss, what about Porter and his friend?" He inquired making the Trojan Inc. owner to glare back at him with narrowed eyes.

"Just do it! Squads A and B can handle two men. And keep the other squads in their original posts, defending our assets." He spat back, earning a nervous nod back from Darrow who put his hand up to his own earpiece.

"Now, move it!" Howser then spat to his team, before pushing a now nervous Arlington out of the room.

A moment earlier, back at the doorway to the visitors room. Both Porter and Stonebridge were pinned down by the continuing gunfire from the Trojan teams that had their escape route blocked off, only giving the two Brits a second or two at a time to fire off a shot or two before they needed to take cover again.

"This isn't going that well, is it?" Michael exclaimed over the sound of the gunfire, earning a quick nod back from John in return.

"True, Michael. But things should change any second now." He replied, before an explosion could be heard from outside, earning a curious look from Stonebridge as the older soldier smirked back.

"Was that our car?"

"Yes, Mate. Julia just blew it up as a diversion." The former SAS soldier replied, before leaning out just enough to fire a few shots at the enemy mercs, taking one out through his head while making others take cover behind the pillars.

"Let's hope it has the effect that we need." He added while returning to cover, just as Michael fired a shot out in succession.

"Wait a second, something's going on." He observed as several of the mercs suddenly began to back away, like they were retreating.

"They're leaving, aren't they?" Porter hinted with a knowing smirk, making his friend nod back as he took cover once more, due to a few of the enemies supplying suppressing fire as their comrades left.

"There's only half of them out there now." Michael answered, only to look down at his gun as he popped out it's clip.

"I'm nearly out." He replied, before reloading the M9 as John nodded back in response while firing back into the corridor.

"Me too, Mate. But things will..." he assured, only to be cut off as a grenade was thrown through the door, landing between them.

"COVER ME!" Porter exclaimed desperately, making Stonebridge open fire on their attackers once more while he quickly picked up the explosive and threw it back outside.

Both men then took cover again either side of the door as the grenade exploded, shaking the building around them as the gunfire stopped.

"I think that's it." Michael then suggested with a hopeful tone, making his older friend nod back in agreement.

"Then let's go and check then."

The pair, with guns ready, then stepped out of the room to find some smoke rising up from the floor and several bodies doted about the area.

"We're clear." The former SBS soldier declared, earning a hand gesture from Porter in response.

"Agreed..." he began to reply before pointing to three bodies that were still moving.

"...but we still have live ones over here." He added, before they both walked over to heavily injured mercs and put them out of their misery with shots to the head.

"Okay, I'm out." Michael announced as he dropped the empty clip from his handgun, while his friend knelt and checked an assault rifle that was lying next to one of the corpses.

"These are still good. Pick one up and load up on ammo and be fast about it. Who knows how much of a head start Arlington has...or when reinforcements will get here." He suggested, making Michael copy him as they equipped new weapons and stocked up on magazines and clips for them.

Another moment later and the pair were quickly but cautiously searching the floor of the building they were on, with Porter on point as Stonebridge watched their rear.

"I don't like it. You'd think that we would have run into more of Trojan's mercs by now." The latter queried as he looked down the iron-sights of his weapon, ready for anyone go pop out and attack.

"Perhaps Richmond's distraction was more successful than we thought." The former replied as the pair approached a staircase, which was next to a large glass wall that showed the courtyard outside.

"Hang on. Look over there!" John then exclaimed and pointed, having noticed some movement outside, which made Michael turn around and look out to what his partner was gesturing at.

"There's Howser and Arlington, with a group of mercs for bodyguards..." Michael replied as the pair saw their targets approaching a fleet of jeeps.

"...but we're not going to get down there in time to stop them from leaving." He added while the older soldier looked at the area directly outside the window, before a smirk grew on his face.

"What are you thinking?" The newer Section-20 operative then asked, having noticed his friend's face.

"Just follow my lead. I have a quick way to get down there." He said before taking a few steps back from the massive window, which gained a mirrored action from a curious Stonebridge.

"Okay...what now?" The latter then asked, only to have the former open fire on the window, riddling it with bullets as multiple cracks grew out from it's bullet holes.

"Jump!" Porter than shouted before running up to the window and jumping through it, shattering the glass into a million pieces as he fell down to the roof below them, performing a forward roll as he landed there.

"Bloody hell!" Michael replied in amazement, only to shake it off and follow his teammate out of the now open window.

But this action had caught the attention of the mercs, making Howser grit his teeth in disdain as he saw both Porter and Stonebridge jump from the first-floor roof down onto the ground below and continue their pursuit of their target, his client.

"Cover our exit!" He ordered, making his men open fire on the Brits and cause them to take cover.

"We're out of here." The American then exclaimed as he then climbed into the vehicle alongside Arlington and two of his men and drove off, leaving the other two to keep the Section-20 agents busy.

"Take the plane up now and execute 'plan: Skyhook'." Marcus then said into his earpiece, earning the attention of Arlington, who gave him a panicked and desperate glare in response.

"You can't do that! I have to get out of..." he started to shout, only be cut off as the Merc leader placed his hand on his shoulder.

"Trust me. We'll get you out of here. And I will have another team of Trojan soldiers waiting for us at our destination..." he started to explain before handing out a harness.

"Now put this on."

**######**

Back at the Facility, Porter and Stonebridge drove away from the chaos that they had caused, having acquired a jeep after dispatching the remaining two mercs that their target had left behind, and were now in their pursuit once again.

"Just follow the dust tracks ahead of us, since they didn't have that much of a head start." Porter said, earning a nod from Stonebridge who put the car into its highest gear and put his foot down, making the vehicle accelerate to its top speed.

"I think I see them." The younger man said as they quickly turned onto another road via a crossroads, following the dust cloud that was being generated by a vehicle ahead.

"I see something else as well." The older soldier then replied as he gestured behind them. The driver then glanced at his side mirror to see several military vehicles closing on them.

"That's our backup." Michael replied with a relieved tone, gaining a nod back from John.

"Yeah, it is. Now let's catch up to Arlington and run them off the road. Let's end this." He declared with a confident tone, which had a finality underling his words as Stonebridge acknowledged by making the jeep accelerate once more.

This chase went on a few minutes as the vehicles drove down the long and impossibly straight road, one that felt unending, as the Brit's jeep started to finally make some gains on the car ahead of them.

"We're nearly in range." Stonebridge said, which made Porter ready his assault rifle and look down it's scope.

"I see them..." he began to reply, only for his expression to change to one of confusion as he witnessed something he could not immediately explain.

"...what the hell are they up to?"

"What do you see...?" Michael then asked, before the pair saw what looked like a balloon get launched from Howser's jeep, with it still connected by a cable, as it rose up high into the sky above.

"...okay, I have no idea..." he started to say, before a loud engine sound caught their attention from behind them, which was quickly followed by the shadow of something be casted on them.

"What...?" John muttered as the confused pair looked up to see a large transport plane fly overhead on it's way to their target, which brought a shared look of realisation to their faces.

"You've got to be kidding me?!" The older man exclaimed, making his friend shake his head in disbelief.

"They're not trying what I think they are...?"

But the plane as it flew over the escaping jeep hooked itself onto the balloon, pulling all four persons from the vehicle as it carried them up into the air.

The Jeep, which was now under control of no one, quickly drove off the road and crashed into a nearby rock. This caused Stonebridge to hit the breaks and bring their vehicle to a complete stop as the other exploded ahead of them.

"So, what do we do now?" He asked as Porter narrowed his eyes and clenched his fist tightly while watching Arlington disappear into the distance.

"We find out where that fucking plane is going, that's what!"

**A/N: Well I hope you enjoyed penultimate chapter and I want to thank you for reading it, as it is greatly appreciated. :)**

**Next Chapter: With Arlington now on the run and Section 20 in hot pursuit, the disgraced politician has only one place left to run and hope that 'his associates' can protect him. But in the meantime, only Howser and his Trojan Mercs stand in the way of Porter and Stonebridge.**


End file.
